If I’m actually friends with them, it’s a trait I’ve accepted, and at worst roll my eyes at. If you somehow feel less because a friend of yours has more achievements, that seems like a different issue altogether.

I think they’re relevant for people who like them. Most games I don’t care, but for games I really like I’ll use achievements to see of there are things I haven’t yet discovered.

Sometimes it’s fun to compare to friends.

I don’t really know why they disable them with mods installed. If a person cheats and gets them all, who cares? It’s not like there’s actual value. If it makes them happy, let them be happy.

And yea, an opt out feature for people who don’t want them would be good, too.

Elden Ring. Every time I get close to buying it, something else has a better sale. One of these days though…

Wasteland 3. This game is really good, but super whacky. We just fought against a tribe of Reagan worshippers with a giant articulated bust of God-president Reagan that shoots lasers out of its eyes.

I really want this to be good.

It does look really good, so I’m keeping my eye on it.

Same. I want to race, not spend my time driving to the race.

Wasteland 3. It’s a lot of fun to play co-op.

I started Wasteland 3 with my wife. We really love Solasta and were looking for another tactical rpg. So far we’re enjoying it. The violence and language are a but much at times, but the fact that we have a cat with a cowboy hat on the team makes up for it.

That’s funny, reading your post I immediately thought of Ball x Pitt, before you even mentioned it.

That being said, I actually loved that game, and obsessively played it for 60 hours. I think it took me 3 or 4 hours to beat the first level, but to me it felt very rewarding. For me it was more about figuring out the right ball evolutions and character selection to beat a level.

That did change for the later levels. After a while it became too easy, and it just felt like grinding to unlock the next thing. The harvesting component was actually a refreshing break between runs, and probably kept me playing longer than I would have otherwise.

I was happy when they had a free weekend of No Rest For The Wicked. My wife and I are always looking for good co-op games. This one wasn’t for us. It was almost fun, but not quite. Definitely glad we didn’t shell out for the early access.

We still have an Xbox One, and last year was really the first year that games were no longer available for that console. We ended up getting those games on steam and got a 2nd steam deck during the sale. I think we’ll wait a few more years to see how prices keep changing. Also want to see how the Steam Machine does, although I’m sure it’ll be expensive compared to a console.

Galactic Glitch. It’s a fun space shooter roguelite. I played the demo a few years ago during a steam fest, and just picked it up for next to nothing in the last sale. Neon graphics and electronic beats. Definitely worth it.

Hah, we got a second deck, too.

My son got 2 Pokémon games and a dlc. Seems like there’s plenty of life left in the Switch 1 for now, so no need to update.

When we got the switch 1, it actually sat unused for most of the first year. After a while we started to really enjoy it though. Maybe we’ll get a switch 2 in a year.

I played it when I had 2 months of game pass, and I’ve had a hankering for it ever since. If I get some Xmas money I think I’ll just buy it.

Started another play through of Solasta with the family. Haven’t played it in a long time. I thought about making a whole new character, but… I’m a Time Keeper Warlock again.

I think it’s just not trying to be a pass through headset, like the vision pro and galaxy xr, which is honestly fine with me, if it keeps the price from going into the thousands. If it’s feature built for giving a virtual display for gaming, and does that better than anything else (and I think it will, given the special dongle specifically for streaming games), then that has value.

Lucky you 😂

Same. I tried to just ‘go with it’ and ignore the flaws so that I could play multi-player with my SO. Act 2 was a slog. Act 3 is where we gave up completely. The only good part is that the whiny companions started dying on their own.

My friend said it was the best D&D experience he ever had. I love D&D and also had hundreds of hours in Solasta. I immediately bought 2 copies of BG3 so I could play with my SO. BG3 sucked for me. It’s like pretend D&D, with the whiniest, most burdened companions they possibly could have created, and a terrible UI to boot. We tried it again after the ‘final’ patch (still buggy, but better). Ended up pretending it’s not D&D and tried to ignore all the terrible nonsensical gameplay mechanics. Made it all the way to Act 3 before giving up again.

Getting back into Sea of Stars. Just unlocked the graplu, so that’s cool.

We used to really enjoy game pass as a family. I think the best part is discovering games that we wouldn’t have played otherwise. But at some point we stopped using it, so we cancelled. We’ve gotten 1 or 2 months free or cheap a couple of times now, but I ended up mainly playing one game… Although I suppose I did discover that I liked Avowed more than Expedition 33 😳. If I’d had to buy them, I would have only bought Expedition 33.

So I think we’ll keep going like this… Once a year or so use a cheap trial to get a month and try a lot of games, and use steam sales the rest of the year, and every now and then buy a full price game we really want.

Trying to get back into Dragon Age Inquisition. I really didn’t care for the combat, but I’m there for the story.

Oh, we just had this happen after not playing for a while. Booted the game up and we’re in the tavern in Lucent, with no idea what to do next.

Morrowind - the first game that let me leave the path. It completely changed RPGs for me, and I loved it.

Solasta - this game captured the D&D feeling like no other game has. My wife and I have spent hundreds of hours playing this together.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard - this game touched me emotionally, more than any game before it. The whole 3rd act is an emotional rollercoaster. Plus it has one of my favorite action sequences ever, in The Siege of Weisshaupt.

Wow, that looks really good. I know nothing about this game… Will have to look up if it’s part of a series or what.

Back to playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Playing a rogue Grey Warden dwarf this run through, and I’m already loving the character.

I turned off the always on waypoints this time, which should probably be the default setting. It’s more fun to explore than to mindlessly follow the floating dot.

Looking forward to kicking some Venatori butts.

And I don’t think any of those require these kind of advertising images. I suppose that’s why we don’t really see them anymore

Lol, it strikes me that I don’t even know how they advertise games outside of blogs these days?

Oh, thank you! I’ll have to find the 2nd half. It did seem rather short on its own for a trailer!

Huh, I don’t really get the trailer. Is that guy from the previous games? Or is he just a random monster victim. What’s the significance of salt? Why would the coin have her fooled?

Sorry if I’m ignorant to common lore.

And puppies have 4 legs.

Let’s say more random stuff!

Y’all are acting like I said I hate all fantasy rpg games.

Sure, and Dragon Age, too. But they’re not D&D. I like fantasy RPGs, but when I think D&D, I think party of ~4 with friends.

But a lot of people are. I didn’t care for BG3, but I tolerated it as a multiplayer game because it’s fun to play with friends. I also played Solasta solo, but most of my hours were co-op, because it’s just a lot more fun.

I guess for me the adventuring ‘party’ experience is a big part of D&D.

A solo experience could still be fun, but, like I said, I’m not getting excited about it.

Single player D&D? A bit hard to get excited about that.

Just started Avowed (slightly patient, I guess?). I didn’t love it at first, but I’m starting to really like it. It’s much more story heavy than I expected. Combat was really difficult at first, and I lost almost every fight once I got to Paradis. Now that I’m level 6, I win most fight easily. 🤷

The magic casting with a wand and a grimoire feels super cool. They really nailed that.

Anyone know what the budget was? At 800k sold, that’s roughly $56M, minus merchant fees, plus whatever they get for 2.2M players on Game Pass.

Definitely not bad, though I expect it’ll take a while for them to recoup their budget.

I ended up looking up how to cure it. I wasn’t having that much fun chasing a cure.

Playing Oblivion. I don’t remember liking it this much when I first played it way back when. And there’s a lot I don’t remember, so maybe I never got that far into it. I just discovered that the Daedra shrines give you crazy powerful magic items, so now I’m tracking all those down. Although I contacted vampirism during one of the missions, which is starting to suck.

It feels really good.

It’s kind of crazy how well this 20 year old game is designed. Each NPC has a life. Each house is a real house, and not just a closed box for background setting.

The gameplay feels so good that it’s a bit startling when things are buggy, or just not as modern. Like when you have a fetch quest, but you already have the item: there’s no option to say: here it is! You have to literally walk away to trigger something in the quest engine, and then come back to deliver the item.

Also, the way enemies are not at all aware of each other stands out: 2 bandits standing next to each other. I snipe one of them, and the other doesn’t even react. Must have been the wind…

But overall I’m loving it.