Hitman 2....

I'm sure it was a legacy content burnout that saw me huffed at the game and post about it; But in returning for the last legacy elusive target after that and a bad round of Battlefield 1, yea it was a bad combination. It lead to me failing the target, the first target fail of all the second games elusive targets. I was disappointed, deflated that it had happened but not mad that it had happen. I should have known better than to go into a the elusive target with by brain switched off/distracted. 

I thought the elusive target package handover had happened in the early meeting. I really wasn't paying attention. I shot the wrong npc with an emetic and drowned him in a toilet; It was only halfway through that end process when I kind of knew something was wrong. By the time I had a clue what I had done, it was done and the failed pop-up showed up. Usually I would have been 'emotional', expletives and a thump of the desk but I rolled my eye's, shook my head and left the game. I think that my reaction is a bigger indicator of my inner thoughts on the game and why I'm not excited in any way for the third Hitman. 

What would really kill any remote inkling of me getting the third game, is that they repeat what they did for the second game regarding legacy content. If I have to repeat the first and second game as legacy content in the third .... Well I wont' be doing the third game. I hope there's some sort of carry over of items/suits as a reward for staying with the games. That if you own the first game you get a special  pack of items, same for the second etc; Rather than unlocking or redoing it all again, again, again.... 

So after the ET fail I left the game again but a couple of days ago I saw a twitter post from IO that was a reminder for the last of the November content. All three were Hitman 2 escalations. So I gave them a go.

H2's escalations (for the most part) are much better than the first games versions. Having each with 3 levels instead of 5 for a start. The latest three are entertaining to work through, they're not 'hard' for the sake of it. IO does have a sense of humor. Doing the last few has me thinking of doing more of the H2 content. Makes me want to play more of it. Will see how long that lasts....

Battlefield 1....

Another week, another light amount of BF1 for me. The usual reason of getting stomped on by clans is par for the course. I love the game and the action it brings even when outnumbered with coordinated, communicating players. I'm not saying that getting stomped on legitimately is fine, it does lead to frustration. BUT, this week reason number two has seen me stabbed in the back with floating daggers from invisible players way too much. That's frustrating. So I was in no mood to endure it constantly. Cheaters/'hackers'. The amount of it this week is by far the worst I've seen yet. When players from both sides of the map are hurling walls of text in chat about cheaters toxic nature you know it's bad.

Getting good, well played, balanced matches is so hard these day's under normal circumstance. So when it gets bad with cheats it's not fun so why bother pushing on with more matches.

Still, I had some 'fun'.....

A Casual Gamer

Domina....

Chariot Racing in v1.2.38 is still gloriously messy, maybe even a liiiiiiiiiil bit more now than ever. It's fantastic!

Victory is in the eye of the spear holder....

A Casual Gamer

Games with Gold....

Not a bad bunch for December’s XBox free Games With Gold, they are:

Insane Robots; Available from Dec 1st to 31st.
An interesting looking, card battling rogue-lite game. One I'll claim but I doubt I'll play.

Jurassic World Evolution; Available from Dec 16th to Jan 15th.
Another interesting game and one that's only been out about a year. An interesting 'modern' take on the theme park genre. Seen and heard a fair bit about it, all good or good enough. I'll claim and try it out.

Toy Story 3; Available from Dec 1st to 15th.
A fun looking, well made and thought out game by all accounts. However as much as I like the Toy Story films and as good as this game look and plays...... I'll be skipping it. I'll claim but I doubt I'll play which is a surprise to me. It should be a game I'd give some time to but I'm 'meh' about it.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate HD; Available from Dec 16th to 31st
Is a mouthful of  a title! This seems to be a game you'll either love or hate. As I'm not really into the franchise I've no real interest so a claim and skip on gameplay for me.

The Final Station(XBox)....

I finally got time to try one of the free Games with Gold offerings for November which caught my attention. The final Station wasn't a game I was in any way hyped for but it peeked my interest for a lil'ol look'n'see.

When there are Zombies in movies and games, they are usually defined in one way, fast or slow.
This game has both(fast and slow), which threw me for a sec at the start of encounters. There's extra tension when a group of infected/zombies/'enemy npc's in a bunch stumble slowly and then a small one at the back dashes for you at speed(fire all the ammo!!!). It's not a bad thing as a game mechanic but it's a statement of this game. Don't misjudge it with preconceptions. The game is more 'serious' than it looks. It has atmosphere in spades along the lines of 'little is more'.

It's got more depth than I first thought. The train sections are far from 'just' a simulation and the off train exploration has a lot more tension(ammo finds are comforting). The story is told with nuance you can miss no matter what section you are on. Not all the time but I do like the little touches.

It's a good game, I enjoyed my time with it but it's not a game for me(regardless of zombie speed). I did two play sessions of about 45 minutes each and I feel like I'm done. I doubt I'll go any further but never say never. Worth the try.

A Casual Gamer

STO(XBox)....

My Xbox character has finished off the Kobayashi Maru event today and claimed the reward device, the Kobayashi Maru itself. My little character is getting stronger.

Captured the run via streaming it to PC; But as I had other stuff happening the bandwidth made the stream stutter so some generous editing was needed.....

A Casual Gamer

Stardew Valley....

So much new content/changes/fixes....

The Stardew Valley 1.4 Content Update is now available for PC, Mac, and Linux on Steam & GOG! pic.twitter.com/FgtrPBvwvf

— ConcernedApe (@ConcernedApe) November 26, 2019

Battletech....

The latest DLC/Expansion 'Heavy Metal' was released last Thursday(21st-11-19). So with my all in season pass/content edition of the game I've been playing it since it released.

Paradox Interactive

Like the previous content I'm glad for the updates but not really interested by the additional mech's. The new mech centerpiece; The 'Bull Shark', has an impressive artillery piece strapped between it's shoulders. Which was (for me) underwhelming in action. I liken it to a nuclear blast but without the destructive power. Very anticlimactic. All looks and no action. I'd rather take a few more extra turns with more 'conventional' LRM's than manoeuvre a rare mech for that single purpose(handful of shots). Besides I'd get more practical use out of it by admiring it in the hanger. That's my own take and I'm sure others will have a different game-style with tactics that makes this new mech their linchpin. For me it's to rare and expensive(chassis and optimal weapons) to be practical.

The other new mech's are fine, but there's nothing that replaces anything on my current roster. The Stalker is still my general purpose Mech to beat. I tend to lean on multipurpose multirole mech's that are laser/LRM based; That's a trend I can trace back to my love of the Timber Wolf/Madcat & Mad dog/Vulture. A Stalker is a dime'a'dozen mech, they punch above their weight, easy to use, easy to replace(including weapons). Before heading into the expansion's new Flashpoint/story content, I did a more 'normal' mission to see how the new game changes would affect a standard Stalker lance with non-maxed out pilots.

Intercepted Salvage run:

A Casual Gamer

It was a polar world so apt to really pushing the Stalker lance in the overheat department. I wanted to test this lance hard with the DLC changes. I think the mission served it's purpose. There wasn't much of a change on the ground that I could see; Other than a 'feeling' that LRM's had lost a bit of punch. Same damage but lacked the 'feel' of hitting hard. I think the animation had reduced the number of missiles you see going to the target. At least in my view. Still gets the job done and can still take a pounding. Game on!

The lance of pilots (lance 5) which I used were initially recruited to use during that previous DLC; Still effective and were fun to use. I seem to do that a lot.

Mech's aside the storyline for the expansion is the best of all the expansions. A tiny bit out there regarding the 'platform' but I can live with it as the story's worth it(imho); Really enjoyed it.

The ending is by far the best I could have expected.

STO (Xbox Winter 2019 ship)....

T6 Fek'Ihri Fe'rang Dreadnought Carrier for 2019. Interesting.

STO (PC Event done)....

Speaking of STO, today also saw my PC main complete the second event of the 1st(that's really the second) campaign. Even if the interface doesn't recognise that the second event has started.

With the event over for me it saw my character do the first daily dilithium while the event is still active; And claim the reward. I really like it; And it can be claimed multiple times for each ship I have(just one claim at a time, claim, fit, claim again, fit etc).

This new console can do some quick dps so it's handy. It's a lot like the distress (help) beacons that call in reinforcements. Only it's not an inventory item so needs to be 'fitted'. I've not done any dps charts to say I'm doing more dps but it 'feels' like I am; It's fun to use till proved otherwise.

The daily has now moved on to the Dilithium rewards 'phase'. The more the better.

I've found he new event system a great motivation. I know I've waffled about it before but it really is. Between it and the endevour system I'm really happy with doing content.

Login
Check endeavour tasks
Do daily TFO for event (sometimes both systems cross paths)
Do any TFO's/easy content to fill in the endeavour system
Log out.

I doubt if it all takes 30 minutes.

Some occasions I've stayed on longer to pottering about filling the queue time for TFO's if more advanced versions are needed. Challenge and endevour rewards are a good thing. Not that I've any real time pressures. Playing the game is fun. What would be considered a grind in other games doesn't really feel like it in STO. Maybe one previous occasion(an event) felt grindy, but as a general rule, at least for me the fun outweighs any grind.

The Dil to Zen exchange has been hovering about the 500 Dil per Zen limit so it's almost like hyper inflation has kicked in during the last year.

At the start of the year I traded around the 310 - 315 per Zen mark and thought it was 'reasonable'.

I've not bought/exchanged Dil for Zen since it was at a really high(at the time) 340 ish Dil per Zen. I was put off exchanging after seeing the constant creep upwards. No wonder I've been putting more Dil into item/weapon upgrades instead. Makes me even happier that I get the Zen 'stipend' of 500 every month from the lifetime sub.

STO (The 6.8%)....

In doing the daily for the event on STO for XBox; I've seen my character level each time from the TFO daily alone. Granted I've found STO in general an easier experience to play in a faffing about manner than on PC. And I have been faffing with a mission of two. There's still novelty in a low lever character on a different platform.

I've been happy to see her go from level 24 to 40 in what seems like a blink of an eye. I might get to use the free level boost (50 to 60!). I also like that every 10 levels you get an XBox achievement to go with the rank. What surprised me today when I got the latest popup achievement for level 40 is that it also said (only)6.8% of STO players (on Xbox) had the same achievement. 

I really find that hard to believe! 

It's such an easy level to get to...... 

It's such an easy game to play.....

I've been doing the TFO daily and went from 30 to 40 without really realising it!!

Very surprised by that stat and I presume the lack of players on this version of the game....? 

It looks busy with high level characters about Earth Spacedock. 

Flying in sector space seems/looks busy as well. But only 6.8% of the player base have the 'reach level 40' achievement! 

% of all Xbox players ?! That's either incredibly high gamer share or low in game player share...

I must be missing something(promotional boost etc).....

STO....

Kapoooooooooooow!
He is indeed (a) 'Bat' 'Man'.
Kudos to the Star Trek Online character creators.

Stuff....

 

At the start of my blogging life I thought 'A Casual Carebear' as a blog name was funny. I'm a gamer, I game as a carebear. A name for a gamer that's present in gamer parlance but also as I was big into Eve Online, 'Carebear' was a PvPers derogatory term. I was using it from that perspective as a somewhat empowering fight back. But now.... A YouTube name with 'Carebear' could be seen as anything but gamer lingo and the consequences are OTT. So on youtube, the blog etc. I've changed the name or the display name to A Casual Gamer. It's the small things that matter and while the display name may not seem like a big thing, it's at the heart of why I started blogging.

Over the course of my waffling posts I've tried to maintain a balance, to be a blogger, promote the posts on twitter. A picture paints a thousand words, so with youtube video's they paint millions more. Seemed a natural progression. All done for my own pleasure with no financial benefits. I've gone out of my way to not do adverts(blog or YouTube), that's me and how I find ads so annoying on content. Not much a creator can do when a platform decides adverts  go on your content otherwise. Click skip or not their still there.

I've found I've drifted into various phases; Almost exclusively blog posts at the start, some youtube vids for those posts, getting on twitter to see and promote gaming content; More youtube and less waffling 20 page blog rants. The recent U.S. FTC/Coppa 'stuff' happening is confusing and not at all helpful to those that want to share content never mind make it a source of income.

I don't get the new rules, everything is contradictory or so vague as to blanket all content.

If I'm a non-advert, non monetised creator and I'm a bit freaked out about what youtube is doing then I can only imagine what 'real' - monetised creators are thinking.

There are some good descriptive video's trying to inform the community.

$42,530 FINE per Video… FTC is coming for YouTube Creators from Derral Eves

What YOUTUBE's Not Telling You About COPPA from Ian Corzine

Complying With COPPA - Youtube Creator Conversation from Dee Nimmin

I've already seen a number of creators bail from youtube, such a pity. Good creators trying to share content let alone make a buck off it. So much harder to do these days never mind doing it with these new rules. It's no wonder they left.

As to my future I think I'll return to my roots and blog. Youtube and twitter accounts will still be there but I'm mulling the content. Some or all may go by the end of the year.

I started this blog after seeing another gamer blog with the description:

"I like to play video games, and think about those games, and write about those thoughts. That's what this space is generally for.". 

Time to get back to basics.

____________________________________________

Further updated info:

NEW #COPPA INSIDER INFO!!! Why did #YouTube HIDE this from #creators ??? WATCH HERE ➡️ https://t.co/TMtBP6YEhb pic.twitter.com/GTLsBJekzV

— Ian Corzine (@iancorzine) November 23, 2019

Battlefield 1....

Combat this week has been a lot more fast paced. Domination and Team Deathmatch have always been fast, twitchy modes. The bets of smaller more confined maps. It's fun to see a nice pristine town at the start and then the bombed out ruins after 2 minutes of gameplay. I've had more fun this week than the last few; And that's despite the extreme payback nature that sometimes takes hold of players on smaller maps. Like they turn into stalking terminators that can smell you from across the map. 

A Casual Gamer

STO....

In general I'm a very space based STO player. Ground combat is very ad-hoc, what works, works for me. My main did splash out on some Lobi items a while back(when he received some free Lobi (dil for zen, zen for keys, keys for lockboxes)). Mainly for the Boolean weapon. Otherwise items are all assessed in a simple (very World of Warcraft) visual comparison. Stat X is bigger than Y; Or Stat A is better to have than Stat B. Following the rule of thumb that more is better. So yea it works for me and there have been no instances where I've been stopped in my tracks and had to abandon ground combat etc.

All this is not to say I don't keep informed. Recently the 2 main STO Youtube channels (CounterYolo Gaming & STOunrefined) that I watch have done videos on ground builds. As usual they provide great information. Not to dismiss other youtubers, I just find these guys more 'accessible'. I find it well worth watching these types of deep dives. Usually listen and cast an eye on the vids as I do something else. I'm happy with any bit of info that rubs off on me. 

Ground DPS Builds by CounterYolo Gaming

EXTREMELY Overpowered Build by STOunrefined

Balls 2.0....

Since the last time I posted I got to try the Football Manager 2020 demo. I've not been in a FM game in 10 or so years. The new version, 2020 had some interesting moments but wasn't doing anything for me. Everything I keep seeing in a footy game keeps pointing me back to Sociable Soccer. All I see on twitter is Sociable Soccer on Apple.

I neeeeeeeeeeed the PC version!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hitman 2....

I've spent a bit of time the last few days doing the 'new' (legacy for the most part) content. 

With the release of monthly content - Hitman 1 repeat(for me) content - I've found myself put off playing. After pushing through so much legacy content the novelty has worn off. I can't be bothered to push through the latter half of the second games main content as I wade through legacy. That may sound negative but it's really about half and half. That said there's no further updates planned from IO. Only older elusive target reactivation. I think they are dropping the game and working on H3. The thing about that for me is I've no motivation or interest for H3 after being burned out from legacy content let alone H2.... I'm a completionist, it's a curse at times. I just hope that H3 is not a seperate game and is an 'upgrade' option for H2(and legacy). If H2 content becomaes 'legacy' in H3 along with the first game I'll be "peeved"(no H3 then for me).

Anyway I got a lot done, really redone for H2's(legacy) roll-out for November. Isle of Sgail is a fun map, I love the music and atmosphere. But there's a lot of 'filler' for the sake of it. I've more interest in the newer content for H2's main campaign but I'll have to see when it gets in game.

So far I can only see myself using two rewards from what I've recently unlocked.

The new 'Tux' does have a cool factor.

Two I'll not be using at all.

The larger blades are only really useful for the Hokkido Ninja starting location. Their not practical elsewhere. Not for me.

Doing the content went well enough, first try round.

The problem with some of the player made contracts is that different players have different methods(starting locations, equipment); And trying to work out what way they did the contract can be annoying and more challenging. Still, things got done and more gets checked off the list.....

Stadia....

It's been a while since I waffled on about Stadia (here, here and here). I've had a lot of questions about the system, the games and potential longevity. With the system getting into the hands of real gamers it's not a surprise for me to hear the results. All the foreseen problems are there unlike the benefits, which are nowhere to be found(imho).

Google Are MAD Launching Stadia With These Problems… from Bellular News

Google Stadia Game Prices Are Hilarious from Spawn Wave

Google Stadia's Launch Reviews . Xcloud Does It Better? from boogie2988

Google Stadia Struggles - Kinda Funny Games Daily 11.18.19 from Kinda Funny Games

Google Stadia Review In Progress from GameSpot

& 

Google Stadia Cloud Gaming Review! from Adam Savage’s Tested

So with all that said and done I'm still pondering who Stadia is for. There's too many caveats, the 'what if's' are still there, maybe more so now. You need to pay for a game and then pay to be able to stream it on their service; But only to certain devices in restricted ways(for now TM).

Short-term laggy rental service of gaming only you buy the games and may get some free next year?

It's too late in the A.M. to even thing straight about quantifying the business model. I'm a waffle some more....

XBox and Ultimate/Games with Gold is such a better option. Lot to be said for owning physical games(not least for retro purposes 10 years down the line). 

Where are the Stadia benefits that outweigh everything else? What makes this 'THE' device and service to get??

I did have to laugh at the end of the list of things that can impact Stadia gameplay - Don't do other streaming. Stream Stadia and nothing else is expected! My áss. If I was saying that here back in June to myself why were so many other people hyped about google network magic!? Stadia is in a hole. All smoke and mirrors? If it was a thing people would be singing it's praises....

Stadia is a system I was interested to find more info on but as it is, it seems a waste of space. Drastic changes to both service and hardware compatibility are needed to make this a reality for the majority.

To think I thought this had more potential than what Atari is doing....

I'm sure there will be more Stadia video's and reviews incoming; It'll be interesting to see the variations in setup's for different gamers and their experiences.

STO....

Progress in the 'Event Campaign' is going well. Listed as Campaign 1 it's really the second T6 ship campaign but yea I get that this is the first of the 3 tier event system. So by this version of free T6 store ship I'm 50% through event 2 of campaign 1.  Seems there is a lot of leeway to skip doing it daily and still get the T6 voucher/token/ship. No pressure at all. I do really like that each event of the campaign gets a reward. Device additions are nice to see. Options, options!

On the XBox side it's a lot slower and I'll need that leeway to just about complete the event. Whats really motivating me on the XBox side is that my character will be able to claim a ship a rare ship my PC Main has no chance(practically none) of having.

Double research needed to pick the best ships, PC for T6 Store and XBox Phoenix prize...... Choices Choices!

Battlefield 1....

Well worth it(again)....

A Casual Carebear

STO....

Star Trek Online is my main online game these day's, one that I plink away at. Casual is casual. It's free and full featured, unlike Eve Online which may have a free mode but is one that's very limited. STO is by far the best free to play game I've come across(for Sci-Fi fun). There's a cash shop but it's very much optional. Unless you're really, really hardcore and want to put cash down to get the newest shiny thing, just because. If you do splash cash I wouldn't even count it as a shortcut. I've played STO free to play for years and gained a lot of items and ships from in game activities. I'm a casual player in it for sure; But someone who is 'serious' could get a lot more before even laying cash down.

I bought the game when it was first released. It needed a monthly subscription back then and I stayed with it for a little bit with a friend, 6 months maybe. When it went free to play I hopped back in and saw how it had developed. I kept with it on and off for a few years and it grew on me so much that I felt it would be worth splashing out for the long term benefits of the Lifetime sub. A one off large payment with a load of ongoing benefits across my account. Still no regrets about getting it. The 500 free Zen a month is the key. The longer you have the lifetime sub the more you get from the game, it pays for itself with that Zen stipend. Like a long term return on investment. 

I bought the lifetime sub at a sale for €199 just over a year and a half ago; That in terms of the Zen stipend is 9500 free Zen. Using the €199 direct zen buy from the store means that 500 free zen a month needs 44 months. So the first quarter of next year will see my lump sum benefits equal half the cost of what I paid in terms of zen gained. Convoluted and there are many ways to look at it.
I'm almost halfway to making the sub cost fully equal to bought Zen. Another year and a half and it's equal. After that and it'll start to be profit for me. Cash cost aside I count it all as an investment; The longer I have it the more it repays me.

I've used the free zen I've been 'gifted' to increase ships, slots, extra inventory/bank space and other quality of life improvements on my main and across my account. Kind of wish I'd done it sooner but then again it's only really the last couple of years I've really gotten more fully into STO.... Besides I'd already been burned by CCP for their Mystery code, 10th anniversary "for the next decade" shítshow. I've waffled Here and here on all that before. So a large cash outlay for STO took a little more convincing for me than it really should have.

In a way there is a pay to win system in STO but it's not like other games. It's not really Pay to Win it's more akin to the depiction of  'money' in the Federation. Indeedy the new event campaign allows you to do in game TFO's(dungeons) to gain a free T6 ship from the store(or prize shop on console). I'd rather do that or the daily of the summer/winter (or other)events for a new ship than spend cash. That's me, that's not for everyone; If you have the cash to splash then fair enough; But I think it's a missed opportunity for gameplay.

Some gamers roleplay and go all in, both in character and with their cash for specific ship lines. STO is a game that lets you do that if you want to but it won't force you to. Some of that is freedom of choice, some is marketing. Such as the Jem'Hadar; A high level starting character but ships for your race can only really be bought or have high RNG from lockboxes and as with other games, keys for those boxes also cost. Again it's a players choice. Players choice to focus on a specific faction, players choice to only fly ships 'native' to that specific faction. Players choice. I can see how such a player would look at a lifetime sub that gets extra perks which a non life sub had to pay for and be miffed. A player like that which also had the lifetime sub would be really miffed(essentially paying twice for the same thing - kind of). Price for going all in on multiple angles I suppose. In STO I've found it pays to be more cautious, more long term when looking to 'invest' in STO. I was peeved once when I used my free Zen to buy a uniform set that was then given away in game a few weeks later. Shiz happens. Again players choice. STO does have some quirky marketing at times and you can't predict it nor wait for it to be extra 'quirky' in your favour. *Memo to self to read more dev blog news*

Waffle aside in game on PC I've been pottering away with the T6 ship event daily(second campaign); The admiralty system and parts of the endeavour dailies that interest me and seem more practically doable(or at least seem 'easy enough').

On XBox with the Jem'Hadar available(Gamma Recruitment Event), I took the opportunity to hop on my account and get a higher level character, just because. Might come in handy as some stage. Never say never. Besides my XBox main is a level 24.

That's another good thing about STO, content auto levels to you or you to it. So my level 24 captain can do TFO's(Dungeons) with a random group as if they were all the same level. This helps with the likes of the current Kobayashi Maru event.

Back to my Jem'Hadar. Playing through the starter missions was shorter than I remembered.

Getting to choose the allied faction was predictable for me, Federation.

So after creation, the starter missions and some minor housekeeping I brought him to Earth Spacedock and parked up at the bank; Where he'll no doubt stay for a very long time.

The console version is the same as PC but slightly different in control and ui. XBox graphics makes things a bit 'softer'. Both are versions I enjoy but I'm in no doubt that the PC version is 'my' version of the game. If I miss out of doing a few of the console dailies then I won't be miffed. It's all fun.