Hell and back....

Late post again; It's a trend that may never change..... Till it does(grammar pending). 

Randomness!! *\o/* Weekends are weekends and vary in content as much as some games. In and out of free time/motivations favor.

 

I watch far too much Youtube. Not all gaming and of gaming content I'm being picky by constantly sharing for this blog certain creators. Like TheYamiks. Which I suppose comes down to my mood/leanings or what I just find funny at the time(s); Which is all true in that Youtubers case. So for now he has had two vids worth sharing:  The Failure of Battlefield 2042 & The Failure of Counter-Strike 2

 

Again with the Spring sales I checked out Mad Max on Steam but stopped with the realization that it only came with a small fraction of the DLC. GoG had it on sale cheaper with all the DLC. So I bought it. https://www.gog.com/game/mad_max. 

It's a game I've been thinking a bit about since finishing it on Xbox. It was cheap, a few euro and already in just an initial play has been a different experience. Not just in going from console to PC. But akin to me playing Death Stranding or STO between both Xbox and PC. The same but different. It's a good thing if subtle. Plus it's a game to get involved in without it being Assassins Creed Origins map large. Very doable again.

 

Stardew Valley's latest content in the 1.6 patch is massive. I've dipped back into the game but not for long. It'll need the right temperament to get back fully into the game and work on all the content. It's a patch with a lot of content for the bulk of the end game(no other game to play) kind of enthusiasts.

 

 

 

PowerWash Simulator has seen some clearing of bonus content. Of those remaining I'm on the mini golf map.... I'm tempted to get the 40k DLC but I really do want to get the other DLC(Back to the future) on a sale... So maybe the summer?

 

 

 

 

Helldivers 2, yea I got it as that friend was putting together a crew(3pc and 1 PlayStation 5). This last week has been a tale of two sides to the same coin; Great as a team co-op shooter but the MMO nature of random players shows the worst of 'Elite' online random iterations.

 

 

It's more complex than that but in essence I found the co-op play with a group I know fantastic. But the 'pick up group' nature of the game experienced in a vary short time; Especially for a fresh face in game like me, was not a 'fun' experience. 

That and the dude 'leading' this gameplay crew bolted off to do content without the crew he gathered so that ruffled my feathers as well.

In an attempt to gain more from the game beyond the need for 'good' players to group up with at random I went so far as to check out the game from a solo experience. Not really the point of the game, so I refund it(pending but hopeful).

 

Is what it is; But I can't help but think about the uphill climb that Eve Vanguard has to scale.

 

 

World of Warcraft has seen a little gametime; LFR on mains etc. My wife is still so much more into the game, even late expansion. But the Plunderstorm event was interesting if not my thing. One round for me was more than enough. Rewards or not it's just not fun gameplay for me. I'm not into battle royale games in general.

Taliesin & Evitel's Second Channel had a good video on the subject.

 

 

 

Darkest Dungeon has seen some minor gameplay; Nothing major, just some dungeons and The Shrieker, Progress for the last section of Crimson Court will be started once I'm more happy with the rosters 'well-being'.

Eve Online has also seem 'more of the same' for me. Very minor happenings; P.I. being the main reasons. I've not yet gotten to start the Missions and gather the LP I wanted. No rush I guess.

 

Star Trek Online being the main MMO I've been playing has seen content done on both PC and Xbox.

Event dailies and endeavours etc etc. Same 'ol same 'ol.

 

 

 

Again it was good to see that the anniversary event rewards will be available to claim again if you missed them the first time. I'm not sure if they are all available again for everyone or just if you missed one but we'll see. Either way it's good to get them back to get the claim in. Spread the word!

 

 

While both MC Stu & CasualSAB are my main sources of game news; There's been a lot of content coming from MC Stu(more casually accessible imho).

CasualSAB : STO Roadmap Spring 2024 - New Engine Possible?

MC Stu : Are We Getting New Content in Star Trek online?

               &  CEO On the Future of Star Trek Online - Reaction

But I also like his more basic facts videoes like this new series he's just started: 

Beginners Guide Ship Building Basics | 5 Things You Need to Know | Star Trek Online 2024

I find vids like that a good step back to take stock of whats best without being clouded by 'the meta' or bad habbits I've complicated gameplay with.

On Xbox with the launch of the new content there were freebies to claim on the Microsoft store(as is usual); So I got to claim it. Not that the weapons will be useful to me but free is free and there is the token...

 

Post, no post, post....

The joy of making a mistake is better when making two mistakes at the same time. One directly after the other; Also known as deleting the entire contents of a blog post while also doing a save of that now blank page. No undo recovery. So yea, there's that. Taaa-Daaa! So I'm gonna cut much of this waffle short.

Over the last week of so I've picked up two games in the sales; Detroit Become Human and The Great War Western Front. I'd watched at least two or more playthroughs(over the years) regarding Detroit Become Human including alternative 'options'(here and here). I'd played the demo but never 'felt' the need to get it. But a sale is a sale and it's still a game that interested me. The Great War Western Front has seen me watch one playthrough and that got me interest to wish-list it. For both a sale was what was needed. As to when I'll play them.... Lets just say I've many games I've not played... Yet!....... Yet? This is the way.

Maj0r Lee had an entertaining take on Starfield: Sue me, I enjoyed Starfield - Underrated Game Review Still not a game I'll 'be into' but fun to see the 'conversations'.

Unsurprisingly Star Trek Online has seen most of my MMO gameplay. Mainly on PC but Xbox has seen it's fair share. On Xbox I was a day late to the T6 token; I'd expected it to be available for the same amount of time as on PC. Seems I wasn't the only person to think that and a few days later the token was put back up for players to claim.

And claim it I did, as soon as I saw that tweet! I'll wait for the end of the month to see if anything takes my fancy and claim it.

 

  

 

Both iterations of the game are seeing me do event dailies and general gameplay for 'fun' as well as endeavors on the new KDF characters. With the 14th anniversary event now on xbox I've done what I did on PC; My characters are now indulging in many a balloon. The Balloon's must flow!

 

 

With those new KDF characters and the 'fun' of lower level shenanigans I'm actually getting more endeavors done cross platform. Prob the best way for me to do so and get perk points. Fun in popups is a thing.

 

Again on Xbox I've been back to my Jem'Hadar(said as only Martok can) wannabe Breen cos-playing character. Long story short I've not been lucky to get a Breen ship for him via Phoenix prize packs; So I've been pondering what ship to use on him. With a Jem'Hadar specific ship good as I have already, it just doesn't fit the theme. I 'need' to use something 'different'. As long as this stop-gap may have to be. So during the week I'd seen a video from Augmented Dictator Games talking The Best Lobi Ship? - Star Trek Online. My search for a ship seemed to be solved; I had the answer in the Husnock Warship. I'd forgotten that was in the game. Also a good use of spare Lobi from previous campaign rewards... So no 'cost' really. 

That all said I've still got the gear ready for a Breen ship fit so this stop-gap is fitted with the best of the rest. Not ideal but the ship rocks in use(for me). Very fun to blast about in; so it all works out. I've no need to upgrade or enhance things further. This will do. STO die-hard meta players I'm sure will weep and so they should. Casual is casual. In my own ship fitting defense I'd consider this and it's fit better than a lot of other players if they 'spend to win' or not; But who are (to be kind) clueless. It's all a learning process.

 

Powerwash Simulator has replaced Darkest Dungeon as my 'goto' fun faffing about with game. I'm currently clearing(pun?) the bonus jobs. Just because.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Planet crafter is still just about in there with game-time. Although I've all but stopped my export business. There's just no need.

 

 

Portal exploration I feel is 99.99% done with; My gamplay has a sliver of just one more but I think on emore may just be the last.

 

 

 

More Battlestar Galactica has been had. Again with the just because mentality. It's good to get battles and to even repeat them to try and do better with the outcomes. Fun in the doing as always.

 

A Casual Carebear Gamer

 

 

The same can be said for Battletech. Fun in the doing feels better in this game if I manage to complete the mission, get the loot and don't damage/loose too much equipment.

 

That mentality reminds me of how I've always played games. Form way back on the C64 playing Silent Service.... A wrecked sub on the seabed after an epic battle, very much akin to this. 

Or even on the Mech side with similar gameplay in Cyberstorm.

Eve Online is eve online but this past week I've paired back on all but P.I. activities. I've been planning to get back on both my main accounts so that I can work on claiming loyalty points to buy BPC's to keep or build frigates for a certain faction. So I'm not there yet, just need to clear up all other assets then get both characters there etc.... Motivation has been lacking so only time will tell.

 

STO(console) final day reward....

It may have been a glitch(reward was only initially available for 24 hours) but it's back/fixed.... Time to claim it.

Wafflin the waffle....

Bots. Bots everywhere! At least on Twitter. X eh?

But yea with bots comes a more locked version of my X profile.... I'd waited to see if the bots eased off but if anything it's gotten worse.....

 

Anyway....  Besides that real life is real life, the more things change the more they stay the same. In this blogging case, a delayed one.

Heading Out is a game I've been keeping an eye on for years. This last week or so it's gotten an update to it's Steam page which took my interest. with a "Planned Release Date: 7 May, 2024". Happy news, I'm still looking forward to it.

Saber Interactive

Just out of interest....

vlogbrothers

While I've not jumped on Helldivers II(yet) a real life friend is gathering a cross platform group together and as soon as I get the nod I'll get the game and have a group to team up with.

PCGamer had an interesting article about the game.

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/helldivers-2-sales-curve-is-rare-and-amazing-says-gobsmacked-industry-analyst-i-feel-like-steve-irwin-sighting-a-rare-bird/

&

Neebs Gaming has had good videos doing Helldivers content. Always fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WePzIZM0Q5g

Stardew Valley 1.6 is so close I can say I have some real hype for it's content.

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/stardew-valley-16-adds-so-much-stuff-to-all-the-different-aspects-of-the-game-teases-creator/

While I usually watch The Chieftain for his real world tanking content(among other Militaria(stuff and stuff, with side of stuff)) he also does gaming. The Chieftain Gaming And I'm mentioning this due to his latest train content... Railroader; An interesting train game.

 

The Chieftain Gaming

Star Trek Online has been it's usual daily on-goings. PR for the game was good right up to the last PC patch when it wasn't. The patch borked a lot of stats across the board. Lots of high end players annoyed while the mid tier(where I consider myself) are feeling a mixed outcome. For the most part I've not been having anything happen that's halting progress or classed as game-breaking(again 'for me' for the most part).

 

 

Xbox still has it's Zoom issue so that's my most annoying for me; But with luck that should be fixed as I post(it is!). 

The Xbox version is currently going through the Anniversary gifts; Free is good but I'm more interested in doing the Q content(coming in a day or two). Mainly for the party popper on characters. Yea I really like it so I'll be doing that a lot today. That said there was no official word, promotion or information in any of the media's about the freebies, which is poor PR form. If your not in the know to expect them then you'd have missed out. At least with me blogging and if you read it in time you can still get the T6 coupon! 

 

Otherwise gameplay is gameplay. With the new KDF recruits I've been enjoying the leveling of lower end gameplay. On PC I've been intentionally using the new character on the free KDF ship with the intent to do endeavors more consistently. So far so good; It's it's own fun to be the underdog and punch above whats expected. Not that I have Endevor points I really need to spend on PC but at least collecting them is it's own reward(for now); On Xbox it's equally good but at least there I can do with earning a lot more perk points and apply them.

Doing anything on a 'low' character has a 'feel good' factor with all the 'popups'. I'm still a sucker for that.

 

 

 

World of Tanks was a game I've been into on and off again over the years. Very much off in the last few years. Back this time due to the games anniversary; Free items due to that are a draw but not a reason to stay. Of the few matches I've had none were great, 1 was ok and the rest (8 or 10) proved that the more a player spends the more they can pwn any player that moves. The game does look good, at least imo.

Planet Crafter game-play goes on despite the new portal content being 'done' for me; The act of it's portal doing's is addictive content in it's own right. I'm one to enjoyable it's loot, gather accomplishments. So that's what I've been doing. 

The more rare the portals with the 'easier' difficulty are preferable. It's true that a red light, green light, flare breadcrumb system works but so so easy to still get turned around. Some wrecks are a real maze. 

If things do go south, the challenge ends up being more hassle than it's really worth. Never mind the time sink. In the end there's only so much that can be gathered, stored or sold; All of which has increased my 'done, done' attitude with this new type of content. Time will tell when I've really 'done' with it.

Darkest Dungeon as ever is ongoing. A mixed bag this week, between some roster triage and dungeon clearing it's kind of worked out. Taking down the Viscount was a big help(once again clearing the roster of the crimson curse).

 

 

  

 

Clearing the tunnels and rooms of the Viscount map was harder than the actual Viscount fight itself. Which I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by. It's Radiant mode right. Again maybe the game now realizes that after all? I've waffled about all that before; That and the previous runs in various difficulties.... I'm very much in the mood to have 'this run done with'. Time again will tell if I push fast or am 'over cautious'.

 

Speaking of older well played games I've been back to both Battletech and Battlestar Galactica. Fun again in 'just' the doing of the end game content. Missions and fights with maximum setup's (fleets/lances). Another two games on the list that will be kept and returned to frequently enough. Two games well worth a revisit.

 

 

Eve Online; Eve is as Eve has been of late... Annoying non launching launcher for characters with random errors that are not true visually confirm'able....

Account already launching, no no it wasn't. Stalled for no reason. 'Running' but no game window actually running. Play Now, client is starting, client is already running, no, no it's not. Ctrl+Alt+Del.

It's a mess. Even running the game from Steam has it's own set of issues.

 

That was stopping for a 'while', reboot.

 

Both my main accounts are still active. When I did get to log in both my main accounts this last week there hasn't been much 'gameplay'. My R&D stint has finished on the BPO's I was working on. But with just over halfway through their paid sub time I'm questioning a break from paying again.

My RL friend who managed to get back into Eve has since had more issues with the game running so has canceled his sub and reclaimed the cash. Makes me wonder how many players have done that.

 

Yea Eve is a lot of things to a lot of people in game and out.