Another week, another game....

Another week, another game.... Or two.

The last week saw a release trailer for a reboot of the old Marathon game. Back in the day I recall playing a demo but the Doom's and Duke Nukem's and Quake.... Besides Dark Forces was way more my thing. At the time Command & Conquer got in the way of even that. A better time where demo's seemed to have more content. Also a time where things were really getting started for PC gaming(Multimedia! CD drives & soundcards for all!). All that said the new Marathon looks interesting.

Speaking of older shooters.....

Warhammer 40,000) Boltgun....

This week saw me purchase Boltgun for PC. A true retro look and gameplay to match(in all the good ways) in a fast paced shooter that ownes it's theme. A game that is everything it says on the tin. If your into it then you'll know it with this game.

I've been having a literal blast with it. 

As good a moment as it is to get the Boltgun it's the Shotgun that I really 'feel'.... Heresy?

Street fighter 6....

A friend who's into his fighters is singing the praises of the forthcoming Street Fighter 6. Unlike him, by comparison, I tend to be more a button masher rather than someone who knows 20 button combinations per character. That said The 'modern' single button combo assignment scheme for the controller is way more for me than him.

Using that controller mode in the demo was interesting. I had more fun with it than seeing the last iteration of SoulCalibur. I played the PC demo which isn't perfect(with an xbox controller) it's a demo with an unfinished feel to it. Missing voice lines etc. But I can appreciate the game and it's changes.... That said I wasn't all that into the single player story mode. A bit too far into the Final Fantasy XV style for me....

I may not buy it straight off but I'll keep an eye out for a good Steam sale; Time will tell.

Crying Suns....

The new expansion/patch is a good one to play through. One I've been hopping back into again and again. Safe to say I've been enjoying the new content. 

Part of that is the ship combat. Of which is the colliding ship drill.... It 'just' feels so good in action.

The new runs on different ships have all been (pun intended) eventful. Good but not as crippling as they could have been in the past. Or at least it seems; I could be wrong and past runs post patch could have been bad luck RNG wise.

Enjoyment has been had. Content done. Achievements claimed; And game accomplishments accomplished.

For now I think I've gotten enough out of the game. It's good and the new content only makes it better. But for me, for now, pressing on would spoil the good vibes. I'm a long term gamer. I own this game and I'll play it in the future.   

PowerWash Simulator....

A patch last week gave the game back it's achievements. Thankfully I've been able to reclaim the ones that didn't trigger.... For the most part.

I've still not been able to claim the Fashionista or Suspicious Modifications Achi's. Paranoia has me thinking they are still 'broken' and I've only one more suit I can try... So I'll wait some more.

With the patch I'm at least happy to continue on in the main campaign. I've a good few more locations to do yet. I'll still take my time. Progress and fun/enjoyment are a delicate mix.

The future of the free content as well as the paid DLC is looking interesting. A game that can pull off extremes in crossover content.

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS SPECIAL PACK, coming this Summer!

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Warhammer 40,000 is coming to PowerWash Simulator!

The Planet Crafter....

I've continued to do some pottering in the game since the last update's content was fully consumed. Making, using and consuming resources some more on my main save. Essentially living on the planet. Not much more to say than I've had fun in it's doing(yet again).

Darkest Dungeon....

Speaking of progress, I've reached week 107. Not as far as I thought I'd get but lucky enough to be grateful it hasn't gone worse.

Losses have still been had, both heroes and trinkets. RNG has happened, for and against. Darkest Dungeon is Darkest Dungeon after all.

Thankfully the RNG has had a lot of positives.

The latest boss to be downed was the 16 Pounder, which I left for a while; Given the fight it can be a hard one if the flow of the fight from your heroes is interrupted.... It's really important to get a one shot kill on the Matchman(so that the cannon isn't fired). Thankfully the canon only fired twice, one a misfire(wiped brow) and the other a full on hit which took 75% health off my heroes.... Which was resolved with quick actions soon after. Worth the wait to build up a team to take the fight on.  

Leaving only a handful of fights to go. The last dungeon boss will be the Drowned Crew. A fight I'm not looking forward to. Another one that can be a real effort.

Once that last 'normal' boss is done my plan is to 'fix' the hero roster and take on the actual Darkest Dungeon. All with healthy mixes of 'normal' dungeon runs for rewards, cash, heirlooms and leveling (still a few hero classes to get to max level).

Sounds easy enough as a plan to follow but I'm sure I'll stick a torch into an orb to make things interesting... Time will tell.

Star Trek Online....

Progress on the endeavours is still progressing.

I've finished the event and started the Dil daily rewards.

Getting the reward Tholian Enhanced E.A.C. set and putting it on my mains lil ol web ship has been interesting.

His DPS has definitely gone up but I'm not being precise nor do I intend to. I'm not sure how the set really works. I've not read much about either of the Tholian sets and I've never used the old one before, so it's all new to me. Trial and error with some interweb education to round that out should work.

If I miss a daily for the Dil I won't be put out as the TFO, even on the last day (if you started at the first day), is still a pain to PUG with randoms. Weeks in the game and players are still clueless of tactics... Again I've gone on about all that before.... It's been a comfort to be able to do more in my shizfit T5 on an my newest alt than many in an (very*) expensive T6. Makes me giggle.

STO on the Xbox is still ploughing on with the PC's previous event. Even if I've no use for the reward.

I'm not looking forward to the next event(currently PC); I'll wait to be pleasantly surprised by 'good' pick up groups.

Not a frequent on Xbox as on PC but always nice to see a good theme/cosplay character.

Eve Online....

Besides my two mains which both have the COLLECTORS EDITION of Eve.... (To say CCP dropped the ball on that is to be very very forgiving. Search my blog I'm sure I have a choice word to 14....);

I have 9 Alts which have used the weekend fleet pack to get 3 days Omega to be able to claim the events full rewards. All will now also be listed on the monument. 

I'd not really wanted those 9 on the monument but CCP extended the date and so my plan to claim event rewards saw them included by default. My two mains will get the 'special' border on their names to indicate they were there the first time round for the monument.... My friend is still playing to he'll get one of his mains listed as well. No other rl friend/player came back for the event.... Eve is Eve.

On another note, both my mains which made it onto the image mosaic show the mosaic isn't really a real a mosaic as all images were recolourd with a wash over them to 'make' them fit the image CCP wanted. CCP is CCP I should have paid closer attention. It's a cheat way out.

Anyway. I've not taken part in the events in game activity event.

Rewards claimed, characters adjusted, assets shuffled, skills used....

The new SoCT frigate, the Metamorphosis(old shuttle model, insert canned ha-ha laughter for the model/name here), is a quandary to me. I can't get a decedent fit that an Astero does so much better.

In the end I wen twith a fit that necessitated a mobile depot to shift the fit depending on the need/role as needed. Still not ideal and on all characters it's repackaged and mothballed. Could I sell it and buy 5 Astero's, yes, but I'm a collector. Besides my characters have ships fit for similar roles/activities.

So Eve Online has been the ultimate time faff about for me with niche gameplay. Like the rest of the games this week, more of the same as last week.

Echoes is not listed in CCP's list of games. The last week also got me wondering about Eve Echoes again.  Not that I logged in to play it; But to see what state the community is saying it's in. Which to be polite all sounds like it's onl;y going more peek mobile cashin/cash grab in more and more predatory ways.... I'm sure CCP is proud of Net Ease's methods even if they don't have any form of plausible deniability on it's issues; Netease still provides enough of a PR shield to not get tainted. CCP is not talking Echoes and while not denying it they aren't promoting it either.

For Echoes details I can recommend the videos I watched to catch up on it's shenanigans in game and broader a field......

Echoes from the Front has a vid here: EVE Echoes Community News Update ep 92

Captain Benzie has two videos worth the watch here: People Need To Stop And THINK... Dev Q&A 09/15 - 05/08 || EVE Echoes

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Here: Will NetEase Ever Lose The EVE License Like They Did With Blizzard? || EVE Echoes

AHSHEEVED has a video here: EvE Echoes The UNCOMFORTABLE Truth

Another week....

So what have I been doing....

Breachway Demo....

The Breachway demo(Steam) has been an interesting one, the more I play the more it reminds me of FTL; But with changes that are it's own thing(card based or not). Some updates have changed things as it's been active so I guess the devs have found a demo useful for feedback. I've enjoyed it to potter away with. Not that I've gotten very far in the game. But I've been playing it 'casual'. Definitely a game to keep my eye on.

Crying Suns....

Has received a large update (Last Orders). While I've not played the game in a while, this update has  reinvigorated my interest in it. More danger but more playable elements as well. It's got a lot of content/action in journeying. The difficulties also feel better as well. A dedicated team tweaking things to fine tune it is a good thing.

This latest run I chose the 'evil'(?) ending..... Another one checked off the list... More achi's to go not that that's a driving motivator...

PowerWash Simulator....

It is what it is and I've been doing it. Powering away. The Treehouse, Washroom, Carousel and Temple with associated achievements are done. 

While there's an enjoyment in the doing of the game(craving the ding), I was also into a lot more 40k vids on the youtubez on the side....Luetin09 - YouTube

As good as things were going the next site, the Helter Skelter and it's achi proved a problem. My failure was that an item was cleaned before the lights were fully done, which ruining the achi... Accidents happen. I'll have to retry for that once the entire site is clean and available on the free play mode..... 

Onwards and upwards, lots to come with the game.

Darkest Dungeon....

Hitting week 90(not that that matters) in my radiant run. Easy mode in name only..... It's the Darkest Dungeon so it's not all wine and roses but in comparison to all my harder, complete runs it's vacation time in the hamlet. Fun in it's doing and enjoyment in it's randomness(for the most part). As I play it I've also been enjoying re-watching an old youtube series from BaerTaffy from back in the day when he first started in the game in it's early access. It's good to see how far both the game and he has come as well as seeing his learning process for the game.

My run has some of the final dungeon boss forms to defeat. Gibbering Prophet, Brigand 16 Pounder, Beguiling Siren and the Drowned Crew. No run done yet in the actual darkest dungeon, crimson court or farm(for boss). I'm building up a base (pun) in building up the hamlet and heroes. 

So I've not yet triggered the Brigand Incursion(Vvulf), the Fanatic, Crimson curse or the trinket stealing Shreiker, nor stuck a torch in it to battle the Shambler. Slow but sure. Lots of fun to look forward to yet. Again no rush in tuns so it's 'casual' in that regard... Perspectives eh. 

That's not to say I've not come across the Collector and the Thing(or both one after the other), they can prove challenging the later in a run they're encountered. At least I'm experienced and can make the best of a bad situation. Tooting my own horn for sure(R N G be praised?).

All said and done the town is getting there.

Eve Online....

For my sins of being a player who's into the game, I've used the Weekend fleet pack to enable 10 alts. Yea I'm a sucker. The need to manage gear, items and 'play' the game my way made it make sense; To be able to claim all the Omega rewards on each character. Cos reasons.

Gameplay is subjective; A fleet of 4 characters, alts, going 40+ jumps (there and back) to collect ships/gear.... It's not really gamplay. Yea I could have contracted that to be someone eles problem job but as much as I could say I didn't want to do the journey I really didn't want to spend the cash on alts for another alt. I have the isk.... It just didn't seem right at the time. 1 a.m. choices. 

I did come across something that went down.... 

From the kill history it looks like a system that gets freighters ganked where freighters go to die. https://evemaps.dotlan.net/system/Ohide/kills 

Freighter prices going up now even more again I guess.

https://evemarketer.com/types/20183

https://evemarketer.com/types/20189

Eve gameplay is gameplay for me. Character maintenance, tweaking ships/fits and asset management. PI/sales and production. Mining on the side. Oddly enough I've not been doing any PvE mission content or Abyssals.

Star Trek Online.....

Gameplay on both PC and Xbox continues with the usual good as well as the bad. Still grinding my gears in the events new TFO(on pc, xboc sure to follow when the content hits) with 'pick up groups'. Even after 2 weeks the cluelessness of players about the tactics is a tale of woe. Yesterday my wife and I started on the middle lane, finished it's objectives(didn't kill everything, a player does not need to kill everything). Then we went on to complete the right lane in full(not sure what that player was doing(more active than afk but still)); And then we did the second half of the third lane(the player there may have had a clue but it also could have been blind luck).... Also of note on that lane was a player in an Enterprise J. A big expensive and/or rare ship to get. 2% drop chance or the guts of 2 Billion EC on the exchange. Either way no matter the players efforts they had no clue how to use it. Again I was in my newest KDF in an old T5 retrofit from an in game anniversary free gift(and a little knowledge). 

Should I complain, yea it has to be vented. It's just too obvious not to. I'm a casual player but there are too many players with no effort, at all. Makes me wonder why they are in the 'game', it's not for accomplishment.... Or player interaction.......

No affiliation but once again a good read: https://www.stobetter.com/new-f2p    

I've been doing my usual pottering about with characters, ships and their builds. Really looking forward to seeing if the new set makes a real difference to my mains lil ol webmesher (https://sto.fandom.com/wiki/Tholian_Mesh_Weaver).

Although it ends today I've never been into the Vanity shield for Dil 'happening', none of them really appealed to me but a Dil sink is a Dil sink. Which I guess is a good thing..... If it had bigger results/impact on the game that might be better/good?.... It is what it is. I'm not complaining honest.... 

I'm much more of a Phoenix prize person as a Dil sink, roll on the next one of those.

There was another freebie from Alienware, always nice to get cash items for free. Something extra to boost characters and the account in general. Not many games do that....