Lurker > Bartzyx

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Round 2 vs Nichols
Go Dennison!

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Round 2 vs Nichols
Go Dennison!

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Round 2 vs Nichols
Go Dennison!

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Round 2 vs Nichols
Go Dennison!

pump

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Round 2 vs Nichols
Go Dennison!

pyresword posted...

Good choice imo. I stopped playing them after the first Phoenix Wright game and never looked back.

It took me until the first investigations game but yeah

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I can't wait to see the Faile Shaido arc resolved in 2-3 episodes.

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Seanchan posted...

I imagine they'd try to do a book a season? That's like 10-12 seasons, assuming they'd smartly cut down some of the book 7-10 boredom. Even that sounds like too much... I'll be interested to see how they adapt the series.

The showrunner originally mapped out 8 seasons. Totally doable, especially in the later books where so much of it is minor character POVs.

They will probably cut a ton of characters and at least a few major plotlines, but that's normal for an adaption like this.

The first season seems like it will probably be book 1, with parts of book 2 and New Spring mixed in. This is based on what people have sleuthed out from leaked set photos, casting, etc..

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If you play Venusaur, do you start the game as a Bulbasaur?

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hurry you better lock this one when people get serious

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i dont follow video game news

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Most of us don't have a 50% marginal tax rate.

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that font looks like total ass

completely jarring next to the pixelated sprites.

I was also under the impression that this was going to be just one package for all six games so I thought $9.59 sounded great! But no of course not.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/john-mcafee-dead/2021/06/23/912f66ce-9ac8-11eb-9d05-ae06f4529ece_story.html

my new laptop came bundled with his garbage software

RIP

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another joke poll from nick

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who cares

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MZero posted...

is this including days of no pornography consumption or only days on which at least some pornography was viewed?

Take your weekly time and divide by 7

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I was randomly curious to see what is "normal" for people around here.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxwEX_J_6CQ

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oh sure if you use japanese release dates but who does that

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I wear masks still in any indoor place with people that I don't know. Do not wear masks outside except when required, but I never did that anyway.

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ah yes, the fight in which three jedi masters just stand there and die

my favorite

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will probably get started on having a kid in the next year or so.

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imo babe brawl is bad enough

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Gotta thank that dumb bomberman game for pushing me into the top 20. easy trophies.

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Age of Empires 2: The Conquerors
Bioshock Infinite
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Deus Ex
Excelsior Phase One: Lysandia
Final Fantasy V
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Hotline Miami
inFamous
Journey
Kirby Super Star
Last of Us, The (or Loom, if you don't count "The" games)
Metroid Fusion
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Operation Neptune
Pinball Dreams
Quake
Rock Band 2
Spec Ops: The Line
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume
Wing Commander
Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht
Yoshi's Story
Zone of the Enders (I don't even like this game)

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Is this one going to be remote still? Or are they in-person again?

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voltch posted...

Do Indians count as Asian American in NA?

In the UK asian for usually refers to India/Pakistan/Bangladesh etc

They are considered Asian for demographic purposes but don't usually come to mind for most people, since East Asians are a lot more common in the US.

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a porn star for some reason

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It's two weeks after the second shot that you are considered "vaccinated"

that's where the "two weeks" comes from

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It wasn't really anything special besides being the most powerful country in the world. Anyone else with that much power could do it too.

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Deus Ex
Age of Empires 2
Seiken Densetsu 3
Uncharted 4
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy VI
Wolfenstein: The New Order
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Final Fantasy IX (I don't like this game but it's the only #9 I have played, I think)
Spec Ops: The Line


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Can count self-employment if it's your primary source of income.

I have hopped around jobs for my whole life. Might be changing jobs again soon.

Interested to hear the stories of any outliers!

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LordoftheMorons posted...

This old mid-90s PC game called Stay Tooned

Unfortunately as far as I can tell it's impossible to play on any remotely modern operating system

dosbox?

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I hope my body can take it

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Unless you count the defunct flash game, then it would be Bioshock for me. 3 games.

Most series there is a mobile, browser, or handheld game that I did not get to

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He should disclose his disability if the company will need to provide any sort of accommodation for him to do the job. It's illegal for companies to companies to discriminate on the sole basis of a disability as long as the disability does not prevent him from doing the job.

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It's nothing like REmake, to be fair

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The only real surefire way to make a living on twitch is to stream only one game (as long as it has an active playerbase), and be one of the best people in the world at it. You can be dull as dirt and people will still watch you if you are skilled enough.

Most people on twitch just want to watch someone play their favorite game.

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Terra is half-esper

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Meg Ryan is a total dream

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I will watch tonight but not any of the other rounds

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And so I'll talk a little about the actual game, now that I've bored you with the history of it. Why do hundreds of thousands of people still regularly play this old game? Well, it's because it is the best real-time strategy game ever created. Maybe when they make a better one, people will move on.



It should be no surprise to you that I consider it the best, seeing as I have it at the top of my list. The game has an incredible amount of content. Now, dozens of single-player campaigns, over 30 unique civilizations to choose from, and the heart of the game, the "Random Map" mode. Random Map is what makes Age of Empires II worth playing, and endlessly replayable. Whether against the computer or online, you play every game on a unique procedurally-generated map, and the odds of seeing that exact iteration of the map before or after are practically zilch. There are hundreds of map templates to choose from, ranging from battles on islands, to the classic "Arabia," to mountainous highlands or the Asian steepes. While only a few dozen templates are high enough quality to see regular play at the highest level, there are all kinds of options that offer distinct experiences. Seeing as every game is unique, Age of Empires II encourages on-the-fly thinking and problem solving that you don't find many other places. Basic build orders have been refined over decades, but there is still a large amount of improvisation that occurs every time based on the massive (or even minute) differences that each map generation presents, the civilization matchup, and the playstyle of your opponent(s). It introduces a bit of chance into the game, so the better player may be crippled by a bad map. But the best players find ways to overcome their disadvantages and prevail, which is satisfying when you do it, and also incredibly entertaining to witness.

The game supports up to eight players, and playing 4v4 team games is my cup of tea. I stick a lot to the standard maps, but also sometimes venture into the truly absurd ones, just for fun. Whatever map I play, I just really enjoy being on a team with others (even with strangers) and working together to come up with a winning strategy. Given how many civilization combinations there are, these team matchups are usually fresh and require some thinking to evaluate how to gain the advantage on your matchup.

But the number of maps, civilizations, campaigns, etc., should not put anyone off from trying the game. It's remarkably simple to pick up and play, if you have played any RTS game before. Through all the different options, each civilization plays basically the same. You start with a small base in the dark ages, and advance through research and production to an imperial age army. And the vast array of game modes, settings, difficulty levels, and so on make the game enjoyable for anyone at any skill level. The newest version has a pretty good ELO-based matchmaking system, so even online games will eventually pair you against someone that will be on your level. And like I said, as someone who was probably in the top 1 or 2 percent of all players when at my best, I still got wiped away by any of the top players. There are so many levels of play with tons of people to compete against wherever you fall. And then of course, you could play the single-player content for hundreds of hours before running out of campaigns and custom scenarios, and after that there are random map sessions against a myriad of different AI opponents. And after all that, there is a trove of thousands of player-made scenarios available online.

The game is pretty popular to watch online. I have not played a game in a while, but I pop onto YouTube or Twitch every few months to watch a random game. It never gets old for me. I included below a recording of a recent tournament final that shows the kind of energy and intensity that are found in broadcasts. Defending world champion Kai Kallinger versus 20-year veteran Darko Dautovic. Even if you don't understand all the rules, the enthusiasm is contagious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_lD3tnlhaE&t=5280s

(Video should start at 1:28:00 for the fourth game of the series)

So it's a game that I love playing, and it's one of the few games that I love watching other people play. Honestly, if I was stuck with only being able to play and watch one game for the rest of my life, it would be this one, and I do not think I would ever get tired of it. For me, it is literally endlessly replayable. And it has produced so many of my favorite video game memories ever over 20 years, which makes it the easy choice for me for my number one game of all time!

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#1 Age of Empires II: The Conquerors (Microsoft Windows, 2000)

Not many commercial games from before the year 2000 are still releasing paid expansions. I think just Ultima Online, Everquest, and Age of Empires II? 22 years is a long time to still get money out of people, and there was a long period without any new official content, but Age of Empires II (the original release was in 1999) has recently resurged to a level of popularity that it has not enjoyed since the original release.



My history with this Real-Time Strategy game is off-again, on-again. I got started with the first expansion back in the year 2000. First played the game on a demo disc, and was hooked instantly. Quickly picked up the full game on release, and played it like crazy. Soon started playing with my brothers over LAN, which took up countless afternoons. I dabbled a bit in online play, but at that point I just did not have a good enough connection to make it enjoyable. Few people did.

I would come back to it from time to time, just messing around versus AI or playing the campaigns. Microsoft stopped supporting the game after a couple years, but the community remained active and an enthusiastic group of people made patchwork improvements to the game, which improved and maintained compatibility with future versions of Windows. An unofficial second expansion was even developed. When I heard about the "HD Edition" coming to Steam in 2013, it inspired me to really get into it again. I had a couple online friends who also picked it up, and we played online against each other or versus the AI. At that point, with the advent of twitch.tv, I started getting into the competitive aspects of the game. I turned on a random stream one day and watched a game between two of the top players in the world. That level of play was completely mind-blowing to me; I was transfixed.



That's where I learned about Voobly. It's a third-party multiplayer client for the game, and at the time of the HD edition release, it's where the most competitive players played. Turns out the HD edition was rather shoddy and did not really match up to the improvements the community had made over time, so, while the HD edition boosted the profile of the game immensely, the top players more or less ignored it, content to continue playing The Conquerors expansion from 2000.

That is, until Microsoft decided to make an investment in the game again. Microsoft hired the team, Forgotten Empires, who developed the second expansion to make it for the HD edition, and it was a huge success. The team stuck together and started making improvements to the HD edition, along with another two expansions over the next three years. The product still paled to what was on Voobly, but modders found a way to integrate the new expansions into the Voobly version, which for years more remained the way that pro players preferred to play.



Along with the investment into the HD edition, Microsoft also made an investment into the esports scene. Tournaments with not-insignificant prize pools were staged on the HD edition, luring the top players over, if only to participate in these games. Seeing the potential, Microsoft commissioned another release of the game, this time a full remake, dubbed the "Definitive Edition." The game was developed and designed by fans of the series, including the Forgotten Empires team, and was embraced wholeheartedly by the community when it came out in 2019. The release coincided with a fifth expansion, and a sixth one came out just a couple months ago.

The competitive scene remains vibrant, at least internationally. Almost all the top players are from Europe or China, which is a stark contrast to the Korean/Japanese/US domination that you see with many other online games. Prize pools totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars annually support the top-tier players, and a lot of them make a living as streamers as well. Seeing as the game is almost 22 years old now, very few of the current pro players were playing the game when it came out, and those who did are now well into their thirties, which makes it difficult for them to compete. The current top player, a teenager from Austria, was not even alive when the game first came out. Weird to see that, but it makes sense.



I'm not a pro player in any sense, although I did play in a tournament or two. I'm currently on a break from the game, and I follow it very casually right now. Life is too short and busy to play Age of Empires II all the time, and the competitor in me does not enjoy it much if I can't dedicate the necessary time to playing at my best. When I played most recently though (2019-early 2020), I was skilled enough to be just short of the brink of the competitive scene. Good enough that I could at least play in the same atmosphere as the pros, even if I could not take one game in a hundred from them. But I could take the rare game from people who could take maybe a game in a hundred from pro players, if that makes sense. The skill cap for the game is just so incredibly high.

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I worked fast food as a teenager and there was an armed robbery during my shift.

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so you can waste it on garbage?

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I did for a while when I was a teenager and it was fast food. It's nice if you like to sleep in a lot, and you can run errands during the day. That's about it.

If it's M-F, I guess you just accept that your social life will be limited to the weekends. I didn't do it for long.

edit: to be clear, I would not take a job like that now under normal circumstances. I like 9-5 too much.

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Nidoqueen

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I once booked a pair of flights for the wrong date and had to pay an extra like $300 to get it fixed.

I once bought a bicycle for $600 that I ended up riding like twice. Was able to sell it for $400 a couple years later though, but that was a big waste.

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