GRW....

And I'm officially interested now: Operation Oracle Patch Notes

Ubisoft North America

UBOAT....

UBoat has been on my Steam wishlist for a while. A combo of simulation and management. It's out later today so am a little hyped. As the NDA has been lifter I'll be able to do some "research"(*1, *2) but from what I've read/seen already it's looking to be a good one.

Taff in Exile

Games with Gold....

It seems that the May lineup of Games with Gold has only one of remote interest to me.

Here's the release schedule:
Marooners: Available May 1 to 31 on Xbox One
The Golf Club 2 Featuring PGA Tour: Available May 16 to June 15 on Xbox One
Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon: Available May 1 to 15 on Xbox One and Xbox 360
Comic Jumper: Available May 16 to 31 on Xbox One and Xbox 360

Comic Jumper, unless I'm proved wrong looks like it hasn't aged well in looks and gameplay, I'll avoid it. The same goes for Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon.
And while I've no interest in Marooners either I'm happy to be proved wrong on the gameplay front(on any of them but I doubt it'll happen). The only thing those three games will do for me is to pad out the collection library.

I do have a mild interest in The Golf Club 2 Featuring PGA Tour, mixed reviews but I'll give it a go. I've not tried a golf game in a long time!

Well I am in a simulation game phase....

No Mans Sky....

Speaking of news that I'm catching up on; A player run mapping system to get to the centre is great to see being done for the game. It reminds me of the Eve Online wormhole mapping(finding the Thera system).

DARC peeked my interest but then, after considering the effort I'd still need to put in and the result it would give. Well it's kind of self defeating. I could always say I'd do it because it was there but that motivation died a long time ago, the game took it from me. I'm not bitter at the game, just tired and unmotivated to start again. The excitement for it's game goals has passed me by and the additions to the game since, great as they are, have compounded that feeling. Still, I'm interested enough to keep tabs on the game. Maybe something will change that gets me back in.

GRW....

It would seem that the year 3 content is being teased. Old news to some but it's not really news imho.
I don't go into the game much these day's. I did a few day's ago to check on the weekly challenge. It's nice to collect the community rewards after doing nothing..... Free is free. So when in the game I saw what everyone else saw, Operation Oracle.

Which doesn't say much. Time to look up an expert: Carbon Meister

Ghost Recon Wildlands - "Llama Laptop" Easter Egg! Year 3 Related? - YouTube
Ghost Recon Wildlands - Operation Oracle UPDATE! Year 3 Content Announced! - YouTube

So April 30 will be the official announcement.

I also took a look at the 'Llama Laptop'.

Talk about a player needing content....

Minecraft....

Today saw the release of an epic patch, v1.14. Epic in every way. The additions, changes and fixes are, well, epic. VILLAGE & PILLAGE OUT TODAY ON JAVA.

Going through each line of that patch would be too long a post. The only thing I really want to see from the patch are the cats, domesticated cats. I need the domesticated cats in my houses. All the cats.
I'm a cat person. But I'll wait till I have a good bit of game time to sort that out.

I had changed a fire into a new campfire but it didn't look the part because it spat sparks. Not a good indoor look. It also has way to much smoke to be indoors anyway.

Before:

 After:

Went back to the before look!

One thing that always happens with the release of a patch, even as big as this one, is that the cache for the game gets screwed up('Java' edition). This makes the terrain generation look, broken, so very very broken.

This should resolve once as it rebuilds it's files as you pass by area's etc... Annoying in game yet comedic to see.

The track does exist:

I think they have intensified some colours:

The setting sun highlights the scenery:

 And my personal favourite touring sight, Piiiiiiigs in Spaaaaaaaace:

Free is free....

Himno is a free, relaxing platformer in which you can't die https://t.co/jW3rKrJVQT pic.twitter.com/t0MBLzKPvm

— PC Gamer (@pcgamer) April 28, 2019

Eve Online....

Not surprised one way or the other; Well, that's just pure Eve life right there....

https://www.eveonline.com/article/pqiubr/final-statement-on-brisc-rubal-follow-up-investigation?origin=launcher

Except for the apology. No-one ever apologies in Eve....

BF 1....

The latest theme of the week is an interesting one, Back to Basics(Road to V my áss).
Which means there are no main weapons outside of the basic faction single shot, iron sight, bold action rifle. No tanks, planes, behemoths or elite class pickups. The map rotation are all conquest based. As I hate using the basic rifle I've been sticking to built up/building area's where a pistol is better to use. So I've been getting way more pistol kills as well as using my scout and tripwires. It's an interesting variation and I'm glad that it'll be sticking around after the week "theme" is over.

A Casual Carebear

BF 1....

There's nothing like a little Karma.....

A Casual Carebear

Star Trek Online....

I've been really enjoying the new TFO, Operation Riposte (way more info). Thankfully it still has two weeks until it's over(as a daily reward). It's got a good combination of Space interactions. It's Federation war with the Klingons. I'm not concentrating on the type of Klingon ships involved. The less I think about ST:D the better.

I was in a good run of the event the other night:

A Casual Carebear

Having an optional daily is a million miles apart from an in game system that requires a daily logon and action. It's a fine line between incentive and grind. I've said before that I've not really felt any grind within STO. There was a bit of a grind with one of the reputations but overall there's been more fun in doing than monotonous grind. The new T6 ship reward event that requires daily TFO completion for vouchers over multiple months is............ questionable; Yet not a grind in practice so far. I'm a bit conflicted about its longterm meaning for the game.

All that said I'm making good progress on the remaining event rep rewards.

And a third the way through the T6 tokens due to the boosted weekend/promotion.

There's a change in the management mindset behind the game in what feels like a lowering of the bar for the common denominator. Which feels like a watering down of my own limited efforts of the past. Will this make certain T6 ships the go to ship for all class's?
The T6 for all levels change, makes me think it will take away a lot from the game. The game is/was all about levelling up to gearing up both player and ship, working towards the next level of ship for your rank, working reputations and events. Getting Zen to buy ships was for the wealthy or free zen for the persistent. For me, doing seasonal events for the better ships was worth it. More so before I became a lifetime member. I now get free Zen to shop T6 ships but my main still uses an event ship. Free event T6 ships to be used by a character from day one, feels strange. Great for the majority of established players but feels 'off'. Is it an empowerment? Am I reading all this right either way? If the game removes the established players from the normal character levelling re ships is that going to diminish the active interactions between newer and older players to the game....... What about the in game exchange? So many questions.

The spread of the ST:D infection in Trek Online goes on. Unfortunately. I'm well beyond being numb towards this content. I have no choice but to accept it's there. I'm experiencing it as my STO character's in game interactions. Like I said above, the TFO is to fight against Klingons no matter what the ships look like. A target is a target the rest is white noise. 

Rise of Discovery's launch on May 14

BF 1....

Just saying:

A Casual Carebear

Controllers Everywhere....

I'm no reviewer but I feel the need to waffle.

I like the Xbox 360/Xbox one controllers. Not just because I've always been an Xbox fan but the layout is (at least for me) more natural. Mainly due to the offset thumb sticks. The PS controllers just don't do it for me. So in getting more controllers over the years it's always been additional 360/one controllers, especially for use with pc.

Recently it's become harder to get 360 controllers at a good price. I've always found 3rd party controllers to be shoddy, cheap and unusable. Not that I've bought any, but I've seen them through friends etc. Official controllers are overpriced, even if it's paying for quality sometimes you just need something reasonably priced.

360 controllers new are €80 upwards to insane prices. My local Game store sells second hand 360's with a controller for  €80-100. I pondered the second hand market but was always put off by it regardless of the good deals on price, mainly due to the chance you take on quality. If I was going to spend that kind of money on a 360 controller why not just go for an official new xbox one controller for the same price. Yet it's still a lot of money.

My need for another controller was down to a need for something I could use across multiple systems, PC, Laptop. Something that could get used and abused without feeling any loss if it does degrade/break. Quality but cheap, a tall order. I'm ánál enough to have good controllers, 'general' controllers and nobody touches my Elite controller!

So I found myself looking at the best of the second hand 360 controllers in a local chain. The shops buy cheap and sell overpriced but I saw a controller that seemed decent in both quality and price.
Getting it home I cleaned it up, took it apart and removed the usual funk n gunk. The shops do nothing but a cursory clean. Deep diving requires a screwdriver, alco wipes and some ear buds. All said and done the €22 controller clean was looking pretty sad. Which was a disappointment. The wear and tear really showed. Thumb sticks worn, case dented and scratched in places that seemed impossible. Disappointment but no regret. I decided a genuine controller with a face-lift was going to be worth going the extra mile for. Doubling down on my new buy meant buying a new shell/buttons etc. They are sold in kits online, so a few weeks later via China and a slow boat I got to refit the controller. It wasn't bad. A bit fiddly to do. I kept some original parts in place, the A,B,X,Y and xbox buttons and both trigger mechanisms but it all worked out. I was quiet happy with my Frankenstein creation.

Was it worth all the effort, yes I think it was, price wise it all cost about half of what a new xbox one controller would have cost and as a 360 controller is so rare...... Well it was worth it until it wasn't three weeks later. To be specific, the new case was more flexible at the seams than the original (materials matter); With use, a screw came loose and in a rushed annoyed action I pressed the shell together not noticing until it was too late, that I had trapped and snapped off the controller sync button(internal connection). Which made it useless. I had used it mainly on PC but in a switch over to a 360 console had re-synced it; With the button gone it didn't want to connect to anything. More damage done than I thought. I could have tried soldering it, I could also have fixed up the case, bought a cheap play/charge cable and used it wired...... But in fairness I'd had enough fecking about with it. I stripped it for parts and binned the rest. Cursing all the while. I was really done with the experience. I didn't want to chance more unknown or potential damage. It wasn't working out and putting a plaster on a plaster on an old gaping wound wasn't going to fix anything longterm. Enough was enough.

That was about two months ago. Long story short I was still looking for a decent controller. I'd put it on the back burner till a random search this week found a wired(usb), official licenced non Microsoft made Xbox one controller, compatible with windows. The "PDP Rock Candy Microsoft Xbox One Controller"; I even like the colours(Green / Red), retro and nostalgic(some might say gaudy but not me). With the €14.99 price it ticked a lot of boxes. Internet research was done and I was happy to buy. My PC is mainly themed on green, my laptop on red. Was this meant to be! I went all in and got two, one green and one red.

I expected the basic of basic but I am impressed with them. They really feel good in the hand. The buttons and triggers all feel right. The shape of the body is not totally smooth I'm sure for license reasons, but the angles that are there really work on an ergonomic level. The angle of grip for the bottom where your little/ring finger goes feels better in a way than a normal controller. The "Xbox" button works as normal on xbox and with Steam. It even has it's own audio additions.

The cable isn't an issue for length at 8 foot (usb/micro usb). It's connection to the controller is worth noting as the connection shroud is itself a part of the connection to the controller. This adds stability with enough moment that if it is tugged about it'll stay in place. Something that's not 'just' going to fall out.

PDP do a massive range of controllers, with variations on variations. I'm sure I've previously ignored this range, dismissing them as cheap and not worth it. They do slightly more expensive controllers at the €25-ish range and then up again, might be worth it if your after wireless or a different look.
Overall a range well worth it. 

The only down side (Such a minor, minor issue but I have to mention it) is with the controller thumbsticks. They bulge out rather then cave in. I'm more comfortable with the opposite so I'll be making another purchase to up the controller from 99% to 100%. Thumb Grip Caps.

Islanders....

So close yet so far, always the way with this game....

Planetside 2....

Looks like Planetside 2 may be worth reevaluating:

https://www.pcgamer.com/planetside-2s-robot-mercenaries-join-the-fight-in-the-biggest-update-since-2016/?utm_content=buffera0183&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=buffer-pcgamertw

PlanetSide 2

Eve Online....

A tweet with an article on Eve caught my eye. I'm not totally surprised by the views in it; But it would seem that CCP is happy enough with maintaining and improving Eve(and only Eve). Which is a change to the conquer the world (with all the cool tech/games/apps) mentality and attitude that always seemed so superior. I'd say that CCP is learning from it's past but then I'd have to burst out laughing. Blindingly obvious and CCP don't go together. 

Maybe now they will have time to get back to the Mystery code items. A promise made a promise broken and I'll not forgive it easily. Anyway its hard enough to play the game what with it forgetting profile customizations every login never mind do anything else in game. I can't help but be bitchy towards CCP, they made me be this way to them.

Islanders....

The games definitely a different distraction. I've been playing a little too much of it. I'm seeing tiny buildings when I close my eyes!

There's also something odd, something melancholic about the game. I think it's a combination of the music and the lack of any little people running around what's been built.

A Casual Carebear

I've not aimed to get achievements but yesterday I got 15; And today another 7. All from 'normal' gameplay which is nice. Two of them for specific scores which I did aim for, 800 on the first island and an getting an even 100. There's a further 4 more achi's but I won't be aiming for them, they need too much luck. One needs you to get to the 3rd island in 4 minutes. Nothing is impossible but I don't think I'll be playing the game that much to get them. Never say never I guess.

Battletech....

Another great game, another great DLC to look forward to!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1047180/BATTLETECH_Urban_Warfare/

The new 'Attack and Defend' mode will be an interesting one. An interesting one to try and cheese! Infinite mech's assaulting makes me drool for the salvage already! The thought of ECM not so much.

ETS 2....

Updates are good, free updates are better. Always great to see a game being improved on over time. Pun intended here - I'm all in on ETS 2 for the long haul!  

Revisiting Germany Vol. 2

I'm really looking forward to the expansion of the Italian content.

Eve Online....

This turned into a therapeutic rant for me:

Eve has been falling more and more off my radar. Besides a general look at the official updates page every now and again, the one show I do watch(mainly listen) for news is delonewolf's, Eve Talk weekly video. Even at that I tune most of it out(not all of it!). 

Seeing my own gameplay with Eve decline made me wonder about new players to Eve. Players who have not been brought in by friends to the game; That they are probably lured to the game more by it's promise. Then leave when it fails to delivery. Eve can try to be all things to all people but it only really happens(delivers) to the few. The top % like a ponzi scheme. Casuals like me who have alternative goals, casual PvE, are outside the equation, the silent majority who go with the flow. 

Star Trek Online's parent company/developers recently retired the Foundry from two of it's online games. While interesting in idea and gamplay it was never my are of interest but I liked that it was there. STO after all is a PvE game. How interesting would it be for player made PvE content in Eve. It would take a lot of CCP resources, time, personnel, development. But how much of a cool factor would it be and bring, even on a small scale. Just saying. CCP is all about community after all. 

No doubt CCP would take up that mantle and then with their own twist F**k it up as they 'do'. 

Really have to shake my head and then my fist with the way they do things sometimes.

Long weekends like the last one, 4 whole day's of freer than free time used to be filled with my grand designs of Eve activities. But no more. The last two big bouts of login's for me were for the christmas 'gifts' and the 3 day free SP 'promotion'. In fact it was that last SP promo that I found myself looking at ships, modules and items spread over many systems, complexity compounded across my accounts (from a year plus of faffing) and instead of getting a plan to organise, transfer and refit, my reaction was 'meh' and to log off. Which over my years of Eve gameplay is very, very unlike me. A very far cry from the pinnacle of my gameplay. A true change in mentality. A change in my attitude to the game may be due to my changing tastes but is, I feel more about the game being a pain to play. More so now than ever despite all it's changes and "improvements". Time v rewarding gameplay. No rewarding gameplay means not spending time in the game.

As I warped through a system a random wise man in local once said....

I had logged back in to see the new client/launcher updates recently. But I seem to now have a problem where all my client login profiles default to the basic barebones positions. Even when I select to use my old imported profile I click launch and it reverts to the default instead. Annoying. I really can't be ársed to go through 10 accounts, 20 odd characters and resize/reposition all the gui elements if it's going to keep reverting to a default I don't want. Which really doesn't help on the getting back to the gameplay.

Is it great to see the new updated amazing graphics, yes. 

Triglavians take over the billboard display's, whoopee.

Do ship SKINS I will never buy look awesome, yes. 

But if the game is fúcking with my chi I'll decide to let it go rather than pull my hair out resizing chat windows every login. 

CCP used to be great at the quality of life improvements, it was about the only thing they had been consistent with. 

Do I really need to manually migrate account data separately from the profile data which used to covered all accounts? 

Tried it, doesn't work. Like a lot in the new launcher. Overall game settings seem to stay once you've changed it per account. But the per character settings are F**KED! And that's really frustrating.

Anyway.

As for the ongoing he said/she said/they said shenanigans of the CSM can it really be any surprise to CCP. CCP promotes backstabbing spycraft in their game. The CSM is part of the meta game to some, so yea, no surprises there one way or the other. I'm surprised CCP is surprised by it happening.

I've been impressed by https://www.eveworkbench.com, a great tool/resource. 

While I've looked at a few fits it did make me wonder how out of date my own fit management is in practice. I was never a ship fit guru but I knew what worked for me. Even with a lot of game changes and lots of re-balance in the near future, I doubt I'll have a shred of ship fit savvy after the summer. I'm aware of the mutated modules but lack greater understanding. I do know that the contracts market is flooded with useless mutated modules. Even I can see they are useless. 

It also seems as if the ships I have fitted (and on my main that's a lot) are all going out of date by the second. Adding to the historic workload of trying to get back to a statues quo. All my characters have ships based on Ship-fit/purpose/location, all interconnected. E.G. Battleship/Level 4 missioning/Caldari space. But if the game A.I. has changed and mission triggers act differently or module sand ships are nerfed; You need to know about that, change the fit. 

Or if gankers/ninja's are operating in and around "your" system, you may be better off moving to another agent. Moving it all to another reagion, or spending cash to setup elswhere. Maybe you setup in all the regions and need to refit everything in 6 mission hubs across the known universe. It only snowballs from there. I can't be bothered any more. Maybe that attitude will change. Maybe when the launcher issues are "altered", ships/modules get "changed" etc.... bla bla bla.... Maybe maybe maybe....

Islanders....

My suggested games on stream pointed me towards Islanders. Steam linked it to me because of Kingdoms and Castles and Mini Metro. I didn't really pay attention to it until I'd seen a few youtubers mention it(here and here). Because of what I saw from them I picked it up. It is only €4.99 after all.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1046030/ISLANDERS/

Even after an initial install and play it was well worth the money. More a game akin to Mini Metro than K&C. It's a hard game to describe, space management, tertis-esque, points based puzzle builder.
Building A gets a bonus beside a resource or building B, building C also want that resource but can't be beside building A. All the while you try to fit it all together on limited space while also trying to build up combo points to get your level up to unlock more buildings. Sounds more complex but the gameplay is intuitive and once you know what needs to be next to what or avoided it starts to get addictive.

Enough waffle from me the dev video says it best:

Grizzly Games

STO....

The game has always had a far more lenient way with the Trek universe, combining different series and timelines simultaneously into a game that is fun for all who play.
A ship in game that's never been seen in any film/tv series is a lot more believable, a lot more plausible to accept. Or even a race like the Tzenkethi, great to see and be a part of.

As for Discovery, I don't like a lot about the new show. I can accept some of it in the game, ship designs, uniform styles etc. But the more that gets duplicated in regard to storylines the more I'm put off by it. It reminds me of what they could be using that talent/time/energy/money on for other parts of the game.

I have a hope that Discovery will end with a nice timeline dilation that wipes it from the Trek franchise universe, setting the records straight again.

Why am I waffling about this, mainly because the new 'daily task force operation' storyline is STD based. The system itself is a longer term rep grind. It'll reward a player with vouchers that can be used for a single daily reward or added to a 60 day's worth, that will reward a player with a Tier 6 ship from the in game store. Time will tell how these tasks will develop and the TFO's involved will no doubt reinterpret the rebooted reinterpretation that is Star Trek Discovery. *eye-roll*

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11138023

Having done my first of this TFO today I was wondering where the 'new' vouchers were. Unlike the TFO vouchers that you manually apply to a reputation project; The new coupon token progress has it's own counter. Located in the bottom left of the reputation UI window.
This weekend as is a bonus for the coupons/vouchers/tokens so I now have 100/3000.

If nothing else it's a way of getting players to log into the game regularly over the longterm.

BF 1....

It's been another slow week of matches. Those that were filled with large numbers ended by being complete áss stompings by large clans. The kind where you get killed after spawning, times 20.
Still, I got a few clips to show for it. I'm still enjoying my time as a scout but these matches are getting tedious.

A Casual Carebear

What they said....

I've come across a lot of video's this week that share my views on the games industry and player/attitudes of late, for the most part (99.9%); So yea 'what they said':

Jim Sterling

Izzy Nobre

The Orange Hatter

The Orange Hatter in that video also mentions a GDC presentation to look at. It's worth a look as well. Why Dark Souls Is The 'Ikea' Of Games

ETS 2....

Last delivery done today for the event. Mannheim to Le Mans.

from Mannheim: Team Hahn Racing - Jochen Hahn

It was an easy enough journey, quick travel back to my 'HQ' in Brussel, free roam up to Mannheim for the pickup and then onward to Le Mans.

So with all the locations done over 5 different delivery locations, I got to claim all the rewards.

Best reward for me was the dash truck.

 
Not a bad event even with the lull at the end for the location changes.