The Dog FRIDAYS Are Over!

[Gusington]

Shelby family is/was a real family and they really were very close to the British fascist movement of the early 1930s. I don't want to give away too much. Peaky Blinders is one of my favorites of all time!

[al_infierno]

Been on a horror kick with Phasmophobia the last few days.  Neat little game based on the idea of the Ghost Adventures TV show.  Basically, you show up at a haunted house in the back of your van full of equipment, cameras, and monitors.  Your job is to go into the haunted house and set up equipment and try to provoke the ghost so you can capture it on camera for money.  Spend money on more equipment for future missions.  Rinse and repeat.

Interestingly, the game has voice recognition, so you can talk into your mic to communicate with the ghost and ask it questions, or just try and piss it off and get it to attack you.  Each encounter seems to be random, with different types of ghosts that have different behavior, and randomly generated names for the ghosts.  The van is sort of a safe-hub area where you can kick back and monitor things and talk to your teammates via radio.  Once you're inside, the ghost gets angrier as time passes and you provoke it, until it starts continually messing around with the environment (flicking lights, throwing objects if it's a poltergeist, etc.) and eventually tries to murder you.  Instead of health, you have sanity, which can be restored by staying in the light or returning to the van.

It's in early access and very janky, but definitely worth the $10 for anyone interested in the concept.  Once you figure out the mechanics, it's a little formulaic, but since the ghost location and behavior is more or less random, new missions always keep me on my toes.

[Gusington]

^Now you're talking. Is there a SP component? I've read that it is selling like hot cakes for the MP.

[al_infierno]

The MP component is totally playable and very enjoyable as a singleplayer game - in some ways even more frightening since you're going at it alone - but having a teammate means you have extra equipment, and someone to watch your back and potentially keep an eye on things from the van, like the lieutenant and Ripley in Aliens.

"Let's see what we can see..."

[Gusington]

HOT DAMN AL!!

[MetalDog]

In no particular order:

Dominions 5 (on the advice of the various enthusiasts on these boards (sign me up when the next game starts, yo!)).

I only watch sports (and even then sometimes it's just noise and motion in the background while I am concentrating on some other task) and something that interests me.  That's why it was easy for me to give up cable.  The tv isn't on enough to merit supporting umpteen hundred channels I never watch anyways.  I will say I miss ESPN for MNF, but, it's not a huge deal.  I can buy a package if I really want it.

Dueling in the Arena.  I have found the level I am good at and no longer strive against it.  I am only just so good.  Now, however, I spend my time building decks that I enjoy playing.  Much more fun that way for me.

I have a couple of friends who watch The Expanse and love it.  I have only read the books, but, having perused the IMDb page for it, it looks as if the show is pretty faithful.  If you are interested in the books, they are by James S. A. Corey.  Which is a pseudonym for two writers.  One of whom is George R. R. Martin's assistant, Ty Franck.  And if memory serves, Martin is involved in producing The Expanse.

More Dominions 5 (which I am sure I am playing wrong, but, I intend to move along that path a little further before I dive in to the manual).

And finally...JH?!  WTH??!!!??!?  No EVH for FRIDAY?!?!?!  VH is right in your growing up years!

[Jarhead0331]

^I'm a huge fan and all, but I've heard more VH in the last couple of days than I can handle. Too much of of it has been from the SH years. I'm a DLR man.

[MetalDog]

Your wish is my command!

[MetalDog]

Ok.  One more with a great little solo in the middle.  That whole band invented a sound that would have left a huge hole in rock and roll if they weren't there to fill it.  RIP Eddie

[Gusington]

How the hell is Sammy Hagar 70?? Good golly.

Anyway my Respawn gaming desk and chair have arrived!  \m/ Now I just have to make it to Black Monday to get the new rig.

[MetalDog]

How fitting.  Hagar follows Roth.

[Gusington]

 :-[

[al_infierno]

Oh, I also picked up Receiver 2 with the Steam bux I got from refunding SW: Squadrons.

This game is a really nice handgun simulation experience.  The controls are initially a little wonky, but revolvers and semiautomatic handguns are fully rendered and realized in the most accurate and realistic depiction I've ever seen of firearms in a FPS.  Even better, they've added some psychological horror elements, including the tendency for your gun to go off at the worst times and wound you if you're not careful with it -- for example, if you holster a cocked-and-loaded revolver, you have to hold the key down to keep it from going off and shooting you in the thigh.  10/10 drunken gunfighting simulator.

Highly recommended for the gun nerds on this board, which I assume is almost everyone.  The 1 downside is that you don't fight human opponents - you strictly fight flying drones and turrets and whatnot.  Kind of a shame, but it's not such a bad trade-off for a fully simulated "desperately trying to cram bullets into your gun in the middle of a firefight" experience.

[Gusington]

And the Yankees lose. Full speed ahead with Halloween season gaming!

[al_infierno]

Gus, send me a PM if you end up picking up Phasmophobia.  I'd be happy to do some casual 2-player ghost hunting co-op.  O0