On Wed, 2 Feb 2022 07:50:37 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>On 2/2/2022 7:10 AM, Justisaur wrote:

>> I've personally had them temporarily freeze my account, remove money
>> from it and my linked checking. I haven't used them in over a decade due
>> to all the issues.
>My sympathies but as I said earlier it is the only way my landlord will
>accept rent payments.

As I said, most people don't encounter these problems. PayPal wouldn't
have flourished the way they did if they abused the majority - or even
a significant minority - of their customers that way. For millions
(billions?) of people, PayPal works perfectly fine as a payment
service. In fact, its lack of fees is often an advantage to its
customers.

It's just that when things go wrong, you're more screwed than usual
because lack of regulatory oversight means that PayPal can act with
far more impunity than any other financial institution. This isn't to
say you should stop using PayPal - for some people, like yourself,
this may not even be an option - but it should be a warning to limit
their access to your funds. For instance (and this may not be an
option, I understand, so take it as an example) one method might be to
have two bank accounts, one which holds your real money, the other
which you connect to PayPal. You keep the bulk of your funds in the
former and transfer monies to the latter only when required. Of
course, this reduces the convenience of PayPal, but it also reduces
your vulnerability.

The biggest problem with PayPal isn't just their unregulated
activities; it's also how unaware people are of this. PayPal plays up
the idea that they are just as trustworthy as a bank* when they're
not. So when people get screwed by the company, they're often
surprised and more vulnerable than they might otherwise be. It doesn't
help that PayPal often targets lower-income people who can more easily
be hurt by their shenanigans.

So use PayPal if you must... just take care as to how you do it. As I
said in an earlier post, it's not hard to find horror stories about
the company.**

-----------------
* which almost sounds like an oxymoron itself... but compared to
PayPal, it's apt.

** and yes, I have one myself that I won't bore you with the
details... but it's a fairly common tale.

On 02/02/2022 15:48, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
> On 2/2/2022 12:59 AM, JAB wrote:
>> On 02/02/2022 01:31, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
>>> Stardew Valley.  Indie "Farm Life" game.  The developer (individual
>>> person) recently released v1.5 with more added stuff and a relaxing
>>> "can't really lose" game is just what I need these days.
>>>
>>
>> I do play games like this as I find they're a nice time waster. The
>> problem with pretty much all of them though is that at some point they
>> basically become unplayable without spending real money. The good
>> thing is the App store is full of other games which are very much the
>> same to play.
>>
> SDV has no "Pay to play" features.  Regular PC game, no DLs, nothing
> like that at all.  Buy the game, you get everything.
>

Sorry, my mistake as I assumed it was in the 'f2p' mobile arena!

Am 02.02.22 um 01:05 schrieb Ant:
> I recently played Star Wars: Squadrons free weekend on Steam. It was
> nice and fun like X-Wing, TIE Fighter, and X-Wing Alliance. Mouse and
> keyboard controls suck so I pulled out my rarely used old (bought it for
> BF1942 back then IIRC!) USB MS Sidewinder joystick. It still works
> perfectly in my eight months old, updated 64-bit W10 Pro PC. :D Anyways,
> the game was better and funner even though I sucked in single player and
> against AI. I wanted to play more, but no time and energy again.:(
Yes absolutely excellent game, also kicks ass, in VR...
One of the best VR titles of the last 2-3 years.

On Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at 4:05:52 PM UTC-8, Ant wrote:
> Spalls Hurgenson <spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote:

> > What Have You Been Playing... IN JANUARY 2020?
> 2020?! Dude, we're in 2022. ;)

Haven't you heard? It's 2020 : II Going through it all over again.

- Justisaur

Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at 4:05:52 PM UTC-8, Ant wrote:
> > Spalls Hurgenson <spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote:

> > > What Have You Been Playing... IN JANUARY 2020?
> > 2020?! Dude, we're in 2022. ;)

> Haven't you heard? It's 2020 : II Going through it all over again.

So, "Groundhog Day". :(
--
:) (L/C)NY (h2o tiger) & Black History Mo. Dang tiredness, sickness, bodies, works, times, colony, nest, tech, life, issues, etc. When will this groundhog day end? :(
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Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> writes:

> On 2/1/2022 1:43 PM, Anssi Saari wrote:
>>
>> * Does Paypal count as a video game? Browser based, casual, loot boxes?
>> I was just cast in a small role in their security theater. Apparently
>> actually using Paypal to pay for stuff is badd. So going to avoid
>> doing that in the future.
>>
> Can you expand on that please? My landlord will only accept rent
> payments thru PayPal so if there's a problem....

It's really just a mini-rant. Basically I feel PayPal is run by fucking
idiots. Or I guess bots from the level of intelligence demonstrated.

This issue happened after I bought some things on eBay and Epic Games
and paid via PayPal. Four purchases in three days, total a little over
100 euros.

As thanks, PayPal sent me an email saying they detected "something
unusual" and I must now change my password. The something usual would be
the little payments I made, of course. I must've caused a terrible panic
at PayPal, a customer is actually using their service! Gawd.

So I jumped through their stupid hoops and now have a new
password. Stupid hoops consisting of two stupid miniature captchas and a
confirmation code sent completely insecurely via email. To a user who
has enabled 2FA, for fuck's sake. Of course, once I had managed to
change the password, I got a panicky email asking if it was me who
changed my password. After they insisted I do just that and after they
sent me the confirmation code to the very same email address? Sigh. It
feels like the inmates are running the asylum.

This sort of thing is generally known as security theater. Nobody's
security was likely threatened but I guess some people feel better when
they're jerked around like this. Or is it the jerker-arounds who feel
better?

I'm sorry you have to use the service for your rent. Thankfully, I
don't, AFAIK PayPal hasn't caught on much in my part of the world and
for national payments here there are better options. Still, PayPal has
been convenient for me for eBay and Epic and Steam and whatnot and I've
used it precisely because I don't have to spam my card details
everywhere. But the question is, is trusting PayPal with my credit card
details sane? I should maybe look into some alternatives.

On 2/3/2022 8:54 AM, Ant wrote:
> Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at 4:05:52 PM UTC-8, Ant wrote:
>>> Spalls Hurgenson <spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>>> What Have You Been Playing... IN JANUARY 2020?
>>> 2020?! Dude, we're in 2022. ;)
>
>> Haven't you heard? It's 2020 : II Going through it all over again.
>
> So, "Groundhog Day". :(

Is that what you played last month?

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On 2/3/2022 1:02 PM, Anssi Saari wrote:
> Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> writes:
>
>> On 2/1/2022 1:43 PM, Anssi Saari wrote:
>>>
>>> * Does Paypal count as a video game? Browser based, casual, loot boxes?
>>> I was just cast in a small role in their security theater. Apparently
>>> actually using Paypal to pay for stuff is badd. So going to avoid
>>> doing that in the future.
>>>
>> Can you expand on that please? My landlord will only accept rent
>> payments thru PayPal so if there's a problem....
>
> It's really just a mini-rant. Basically I feel PayPal is run by fucking
> idiots. Or I guess bots from the level of intelligence demonstrated.
>
> This issue happened after I bought some things on eBay and Epic Games
> and paid via PayPal. Four purchases in three days, total a little over
> 100 euros.
>
> As thanks, PayPal sent me an email saying they detected "something
> unusual" and I must now change my password. The something usual would be
> the little payments I made, of course. I must've caused a terrible panic
> at PayPal, a customer is actually using their service! Gawd.
>
> So I jumped through their stupid hoops and now have a new
> password. Stupid hoops consisting of two stupid miniature captchas and a
> confirmation code sent completely insecurely via email. To a user who
> has enabled 2FA, for fuck's sake. Of course, once I had managed to
> change the password, I got a panicky email asking if it was me who
> changed my password. After they insisted I do just that and after they
> sent me the confirmation code to the very same email address? Sigh. It
> feels like the inmates are running the asylum.
>
Most likely ALL of that was completely automated without a human
involved at all on Paypal's end. I've gotten the "Was it really you
that changed your password?" email from a number of sites over time and
from the time stamps alone its clear that its an automatic "security"
feature. Which actually has some relevance if it WASN'T you that
changed the password. ;)

> This sort of thing is generally known as security theater. Nobody's
> security was likely threatened but I guess some people feel better when
> they're jerked around like this. Or is it the jerker-arounds who feel
> better?
>
> I'm sorry you have to use the service for your rent. Thankfully, I
> don't, AFAIK PayPal hasn't caught on much in my part of the world and
> for national payments here there are better options. Still, PayPal has
> been convenient for me for eBay and Epic and Steam and whatnot and I've
> used it precisely because I don't have to spam my card details
> everywhere. But the question is, is trusting PayPal with my credit card
> details sane? I should maybe look into some alternatives.

I wouldn't mind hearing if you find one. Maybe I can convince my
landlord to use it. He complains that checks take too long to reach him
via mail and won't accept cards because he doesn't want to pay the fees.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
> On 2/3/2022 8:54 AM, Ant wrote:
> > Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> On Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at 4:05:52 PM UTC-8, Ant wrote:
> >>> Spalls Hurgenson <spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >>>> What Have You Been Playing... IN JANUARY 2020?
> >>> 2020?! Dude, we're in 2022. ;)
> >
> >> Haven't you heard? It's 2020 : II Going through it all over again.
> >
> > So, "Groundhog Day". :(

> Is that what you played last month?

No, didn't you see the movie with Bill Murray?
--
:) (L/C)NY (h2o tiger) & Black History Mo. Dang tiredness, sickness, bodies, works, times, colony, nest, tech, life, issues, etc. When will this groundhog day end? :(
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/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

On 2/3/2022 8:42 PM, Ant wrote:
> Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>> On 2/3/2022 8:54 AM, Ant wrote:
>>> Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> On Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at 4:05:52 PM UTC-8, Ant wrote:
>>>>> Spalls Hurgenson <spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>>> What Have You Been Playing... IN JANUARY 2020?
>>>>> 2020?! Dude, we're in 2022. ;)
>>>
>>>> Haven't you heard? It's 2020 : II Going through it all over again.
>>>
>>> So, "Groundhog Day". :(
>
>> Is that what you played last month?
>
> No, didn't you see the movie with Bill Murray?

The first, fifth, tenth, twentieth, one hundredth, or one thousandth
time? ;)

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On Thu, 3 Feb 2022 18:05:03 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>On 2/3/2022 1:02 PM, Anssi Saari wrote:

>> I'm sorry you have to use the service for your rent. Thankfully, I
>> don't, AFAIK PayPal hasn't caught on much in my part of the world and
>> for national payments here there are better options. Still, PayPal has
>> been convenient for me for eBay and Epic and Steam and whatnot and I've
>> used it precisely because I don't have to spam my card details
>> everywhere. But the question is, is trusting PayPal with my credit card
>> details sane? I should maybe look into some alternatives.
>
>I wouldn't mind hearing if you find one. Maybe I can convince my
>landlord to use it. He complains that checks take too long to reach him
>via mail and won't accept cards because he doesn't want to pay the fees.

Technically there are fees with PayPal too... if you are using it for
a business. It's only fee-less if you are using it as a personal
account. IIRC, personal accounts also have much less accountability to
them (as in, stuff doesn't get reported to the tax man). Which, of
course, is why a lot of small business owners use personal accounts in
violation of PayPal's own terms-of-service (and possibly the law).

When it comes to online payments, one alternative is virtual credit
cards, which essentially are single-use credit-card numbers that link
back to your own credit card. Essentially, you transfer funds to the
virtual card, use that card number to pay for something, and then
retire the number. If somebody nefarious tries to reuse the number, it
either won't work or there won't be any funds for them to pull; either
way, you're protected. Unfortunately, very few credit card providers
offer this feature (ironically, PayPal used to be one of them,
although they've stopped offering that service), but it may be worth
checking with your bank to see if they do.

As to the landlord issue, that's a toughie. Cash may be one
alternative (although, unless it's the rare landlord who actually
offers a receipt, you have no proof you've paid him if you use cash),
or perhaps a money order, but ultimately you may not have any
recourse. Some US states (California is one) have laws that protect
you from a landlord demanding electronic payments, but often these can
be superseded by what's stated by the lease (see a lawyer for more
info. Never take legal advice from somebody on the Internet).

If it is really a concern, try actually discussing things with the
landlord, preferabbly with some options (such as paying in advance);
while many landlords are... untenable, others can be more
compromising, especially if you have leasing for a while and have been
a good tenant. It can't hurt to ask.

But then, it may not be worth the bother. While there are far too many
horror stories associated with PayPal (it really is a terrible
company), for the vast, vast majority of people it's a service they
use without any problems. It may not be worth the time to switch,
especially if you strive to make effort to limit your vulnerabilities.
My main concern is that people become more aware of the problems
associated with using PayPal; too many people think it is the
equivalent of a bank or credit card, when it very much is not. These
are the people who put significant portions of their savings into
PayPal's care, and if something goes wrong, they get royally screwed.
Limit how much of your money PayPal has access to, and you're probably
safe.

Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
> On 2/3/2022 8:42 PM, Ant wrote:
> > Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
> >> On 2/3/2022 8:54 AM, Ant wrote:
> >>> Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>> On Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at 4:05:52 PM UTC-8, Ant wrote:
> >>>>> Spalls Hurgenson <spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>>>> What Have You Been Playing... IN JANUARY 2020?
> >>>>> 2020?! Dude, we're in 2022. ;)
> >>>
> >>>> Haven't you heard? It's 2020 : II Going through it all over again.
> >>>
> >>> So, "Groundhog Day". :(
> >
> >> Is that what you played last month?
> >
> > No, didn't you see the movie with Bill Murray?

> The first, fifth, tenth, twentieth, one hundredth, or one thousandth
> time? ;)

:D
--
:) (L/C)NY (h2o tiger) & Black History Mo. Dang tiredness, sickness, bodies, works, times, colony, nest, tech, life, issues, etc. When will this groundhog day end? :(
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
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/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
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On 2/1/2022 8:47 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

[snip]
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Well, that's me proving I've been playing video games this month. So
> what about you?
>
> What Have You Been Playing... IN JANUARY 2020?
>

I played a few different games this last month, as I finally got a good
graphic card in December (6700XT at MSRP from Best Buy) and I wanted to
check out the new effects, especially HDR and freesync.

Forza Horizon 4 - This may be the best car driving game, I have ever
played, and i started with Test Drive in the 80s. The graphics are
great. Driving from in-car perspective is quite immersive as well.

Horizon Zero Dawn - One of the best implementations of HDR in Windows
PCs. HDR switches on automatically, if you have 10-bit color on in the
desktop, and then switches off, when you exit the game. This is unlike
Forza Horizon 4, where you have to manually turn HDR on and off when
starting the game. The game itself is huge, and it'll probably take me
many months to go through, if not years. It's an interesting game.

Mass Effect : Legendary Edition - I played the trilogy when it was
originally released along with some of the DLCs. This new remastered
edition includes all three games with all their DLCs and some tweaks
especially to the first game in the series. It plays great on
mouse-keyboard, and I am enjoying it more than what I expected. Even the
planet exploring vehicle bits are quite ok. HDR implementation again is
really good.

Crysis - Anytime I get a new graphic card, I always go through parts of
this game, and this time, I have reached the final battle. Even with
this quite power 12 core and 32GB RAM PC, the game still is unstable at
the final battle and crashes here and there. Before that however, it
played really well. The graphics are still stunning, especially when
coming down the mountain at the part of the game when the island goes
through a transformation. Fifteen years after its release, the game is
still quite fun.

Spiderman (PS5) - I am close to finishing the game, after playing it off
and on for past 3-4 months. It's a decent game and the raytracing
effects are very impressive especially when showing NYC at night.

Fallguys - My go to game when I have 15-30 minute break.

Yakuza Kiwami - This is remake of first Yakuza game from Sega. Lots of
button bashing and an overly complicated control system for a brawler,
but I plan to continue.

Psychonauts 2 - It's consistently excellent. Gameplay remains fresh, as
was the case with the first game as well.

Mario Party (new one for Switch) - Few sessions here and there with my kids.

XCOM : Enemy Unknown (first Firaxis game) - I have been playing this for
months now, but sporadically.

Halo Infinite Multiplayer - Excellent controls. I have only played 4-5
online games, but I do intend to try a few more.

That's what I can remember now. This month, I'll continue these same
games, and probably will finish Spiderman on PS5.
--
Noman

On 07/02/2022 06:38, Noman wrote:

> Mass Effect : Legendary Edition - I played the trilogy when it was
> originally released along with some of the DLCs. This new remastered
> edition includes all three games with all their DLCs and some tweaks
> especially to the first game in the series. It plays great on
> mouse-keyboard, and I am enjoying it more than what I expected. Even the
> planet exploring vehicle bits are quite ok. HDR implementation again is
> really good.
>

I played the first two and enjoyed them for the story and the visuals.
The third one I never got as it wasn't available on Steam and having
read the initial reviews that was probably good for me. The legendary
edition I did take a look at on my Steam 'feed' but at the current price
I really can't say it's worth it. Most of the changes seem to the
visuals and although I'm sure they look very nice but the old still
aren't that bad.

There's also the case that I did like the game but it wasn't one that
after I finished it that I could see myself replaying it in time soon,
in fact I did end up replaying either of them.

> Psychonauts 2 - It's consistently excellent. Gameplay remains fresh, as
> was the case with the first game as well.
>

I did get Psychonauts, in a sale, and I really wanted to like it but,
nope the gameplay just didn't grab me. For some strange reason I almost
ended up buying 2 until I suddenly thought, if I didn't like the first
one why would I buy the second one.

On Mon, 7 Feb 2022 09:04:03 +0000, JAB <noway@co.uk> wrote:
>On 07/02/2022 06:38, Noman wrote:

>> Mass Effect : Legendary Edition

>I played the first two and enjoyed them for the story and the visuals.
>The third one I never got as it wasn't available on Steam and having
>read the initial reviews that was probably good for me. The legendary
>edition I did take a look at on my Steam 'feed' but at the current price
>I really can't say it's worth it. Most of the changes seem to the
>visuals and although I'm sure they look very nice but the old still
>aren't that bad.

If you /do/ choose to play Mass Effect 3, either choose the Legendary
edition or invest in all the DLC for the original. While the extra
assets won't elevate the game to super-magnificent-awesome status,
playing the game without them is an extremely subpar experience. The
base game just isn't satisfying on its own. There's a lack of
interesting secondary quests, there's not much in the way of character
interactions, and the DLC adds some much needed backstory. It really
is a prime example of how EA rips apart games to make a few extra
bucks with DLC.

If you already own the original with all the DLC, the Legendary
edition isn't really worth it; even with the first game, the visuals
are still quite acceptable and the graphics updates to the third are
(IMHO) barely noticable. If you don't own the original Mass Effect
III and want it, then the Legendary Edition is really the only choice,
since it's actually cheaper to buy it than the original base game plus
all the DLC.

>> Psychonauts 2 - It's consistently excellent. Gameplay remains fresh, as
>> was the case with the first game as well.

>I did get Psychonauts, in a sale, and I really wanted to like it but,
>nope the gameplay just didn't grab me. For some strange reason I almost
>ended up buying 2 until I suddenly thought, if I didn't like the first
>one why would I buy the second one.

The original "Psychonauts" had its moments, but I couldn't stand its
run-n-jump gameplay, and its surreal visuals were put me off as much
as they drew me in. It's why I'm holding off on playing the sequel; in
the end, I figure I will get some enjoyment out of it but it'll also
annoy me in equal amounts. That's not a particularly enticing
combination, especially when I have thousands of other games at my
fingertips waiting to be played...

Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> writes:

> I wouldn't mind hearing if you find one. Maybe I can convince my
> landlord to use it. He complains that checks take too long to reach
> him via mail and won't accept cards because he doesn't want to pay the
> fees.

I guess in my case for a little online shopping the virtual or prepaid
credit cards are the thing as Spalls mentioned. Some outfits, like
Revolut in the UK, offer a prepaid card with low or no extra fees for
little use and that would be perfect for the kind of little purchases I
occasionally do. Although that comes with some extra trouble with
fiddling with the other card, topping it up and whatever.

In Europe at least there's also this thing called Paysafecard but that's
more like a voucher or a gift card that's valid in way less stores than
credit cards or Paypal is. For paying rent I doubt it would work and for
you as the payer it would have the same lack of proof as paying in cash.

But to bring some relevance to this group, at least Steam, Epic and some
other game companies do accept Paysafecards.

On 2022-02-02, Mike S <Mike_S@nowhere.com> wrote:
> On Wed, 2 Feb 2022 08:59:02 +0000, JAB <noway@co.uk> wrote:
>
>>I do play games like this as I find they're a nice time waster. The
>>problem with pretty much all of them though is that at some point they
>>basically become unplayable without spending real money. The good thing
>>is the App store is full of other games which are very much the same to
>>play.
>
> There are no micro transactions in Stardew Valley. Reviews on Steam
> are 'Overwhelmingly Positive'. If you like farm games, this is
> probably the one to get.
I play SDV with my daughter, you can both share a farm and split the
chores, it can get hectic to try and complete your daily chores. But
that isn't really necessary.

I heard that Terraria although not a farming game I believe is taking
some of SDV thunder lately.

--
Don't be afraid of the deep...
--[ bbs.bottomlessabyss.net | https | telnet=2023 ]--
--[ /query geeknix on libera.chat | tilde.chat ]--

On Monday, February 14, 2022 at 5:08:15 AM UTC-8, Geeknix wrote:
> On 2022-02-02, Mike S <Mik...@nowhere.com> wrote:
> > On Wed, 2 Feb 2022 08:59:02 +0000, JAB <no...@co.uk> wrote:
> >
> >>I do play games like this as I find they're a nice time waster. The
> >>problem with pretty much all of them though is that at some point they
> >>basically become unplayable without spending real money. The good thing
> >>is the App store is full of other games which are very much the same to
> >>play.
> >
> > There are no micro transactions in Stardew Valley. Reviews on Steam
> > are 'Overwhelmingly Positive'. If you like farm games, this is
> > probably the one to get.
> I play SDV with my daughter, you can both share a farm and split the
> chores, it can get hectic to try and complete your daily chores. But
> that isn't really necessary.
>
> I heard that Terraria although not a farming game I believe is taking
> some of SDV thunder lately.

Terraria's been around a lot longer than SDV, so that's odd. It's basically
just a 2d version of Minecraft. I didn't find it anywhere near as engaging
as the aforementioned either. I'm not sure the appeal. It's not like
Minecraft has gone away.

- Justisaur

On 2/7/2022 1:04 AM, JAB wrote:
> On 07/02/2022 06:38, Noman wrote:
>
>> Mass Effect : Legendary Edition -
>
> I played the first two and enjoyed them for the story and the visuals.
> The third one I never got as it wasn't available on Steam and having
> read the initial reviews that was probably good for me. The legendary
> edition I did take a look at on my Steam 'feed' but at the current price
> I really can't say it's worth it. Most of the changes seem to the
> visuals and although I'm sure they look very nice but the old still
> aren't that bad.

I am playing it with Gamepass. It's part of EAPlay which is included
in PC Gamepass.

>> Psychonauts 2 - It's consistently excellent. Gameplay remains fresh,
>> as was the case with the first game as well.
>>
> I did get Psychonauts, in a sale, and I really wanted to like it but,
> nope the gameplay just didn't grab me. For some strange reason I almost
> ended up buying 2 until I suddenly thought, if I didn't like the first
> one why would I buy the second one.

The original Psychonauts did have a lot of variety in its gameplay
levels. Some of those levels almost played like adventure games, with
puzzles and roadblocks, while some were about pure platforming.
Actually, that variety is what I liked most about the game.
--
Noman

On 2/7/2022 10:58 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

> [Regarding Mass Effect Legendary Edition]
>
> If you already own the original with all the DLC, the Legendary
> edition isn't really worth it; even with the first game, the visuals
> are still quite acceptable and the graphics updates to the third are
> (IMHO) barely noticable. If you don't own the original Mass Effect
> III and want it, then the Legendary Edition is really the only choice,
> since it's actually cheaper to buy it than the original base game plus
> all the DLC.

I often replay games, even though my backlog has hundreds if not
thousands of games. I don't know how many times I have played the first
couple of levels of original System Shock or DOOM, or Monkey Island,
Wing Commander, Mirror's Edge and others. For replaying Mass Effect,
the Legendary Edition is the best way. I owned so many DLCs for the
original release, but they were through Bioware accounts, which I
am not sure how to reacquire now. It's just very easy to get the
complete game now, and it's available on Gamepass. In fact, once it's
on sale, I'll buy through Origin as well.

The graphics in Mass Effect 1 are pretty good especially with HDR
and the higher resolution textures. There may be texture mods, already
but again it's just easy to have the entire game and all DLCs
available in one bundle.

> The original "Psychonauts" had its moments, but I couldn't stand its
> run-n-jump gameplay, and its surreal visuals were put me off as much
> as they drew me in. It's why I'm holding off on playing the sequel; in
> the end, I figure I will get some enjoyment out of it but it'll also
> annoy me in equal amounts. That's not a particularly enticing
> combination, especially when I have thousands of other games at my
> fingertips waiting to be played...

The general narrative in web-forums and review-sites is that the
original Psychonauts had fantastic writing, artstyle and charm, but the
gameplay wasn't to the same level. I, on the other hand, never
was impressed by the artwork, and found the writing generally pleasing
but not out of the world funny. However, I liked the gameplay, and its
variety a lot. Levels were all consistently memorable, and purely
based on their gameplay, obstacles and puzzles.

Psychonauts 2 does all that but better. Though once again, I am
unimpressed by the artstyle and wish that it had regular graphics
found in other 2D or 3D platformers. It's a great game, and again
available through Gamepass (but I'll buy a GoG copy in time too)
--
Noman

Am 18.02.22 um 07:01 schrieb Noman:
> On 2/7/2022 1:04 AM, JAB wrote:
>> On 07/02/2022 06:38, Noman wrote:

> The original Psychonauts did have a lot of variety in its gameplay
> levels. Some of those levels almost played like adventure games, with
> puzzles and roadblocks, while some were about pure platforming.
> Actually, that variety is what I liked most about the game.
> --
> Noman

Psychonauts style and artwork is a matter of taste... i think some might
find it off putting especially the artwork, others love it.