[unofficial weekender] No comment

[sundancer 42985xp 2]

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First time visitor to OTT? Then please introduce yourself in the New Member Thread and look around in the Project System. Then come back and read on…

Introduce yourselves (New member thread)

https://www.beastsofwar.com/project/

Read all of this before you start as it will save you any trouble later.

First thing you must do is make your “pledge”. It can be anything gaming related, big or small, and you don’t even have to finish it. No, in here, happiness is the road. Have fun doing whatever it is, but it is not a race. Accompany your work with pictures or we might think you are do something sinister and just using us for cover.

You are also presented with a few questions. It is to get the conversation started. Try and keep your answers ‘conversational’, no text speak, and certainly no “basically”. This is how we all get to know each other better. While you are here feel free to tell us a story, show a picture, joke, tales of love or woe, or just add your own little bit. This is the whole point…in here it is just us.

If you have never taken part before we may bark and bite, but we also like a cuddle! It is all done in the best possible taste and it is character building. feel free to give as good as you get.

A few other things to note: NO RELIGION & NO POLITICS! Glasgow pub rules are in effect. If you need to make a better point then it is fine, but don’t take the piss. And always keep it civil.

Play plenty of music to go with your work. Loud and through proper speakers. Write us a playlist of things we might not have heard before.

Now, after all of that there is only one ‘real’ rule in here and it cannot be broken: NO DICKS! (Exceptions may be made for little fighting men with little plastic/resin/metal wieners)

And don’t forget the highlights of the weekend: The Weekender on Friday and XLBS on Sunday. And the little show that is the unofficial Hobby Hangout over at twitch.tv

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With the current world situation I fail to think of anything witty or distracting. Please feel free to drop you thoughts down below. For this weeks thread, and this weeks only, I drop the “no politics” rule since there is no way around the angry bear in the room.

I, for my part, am still trying to wrap my head around all this. Having lived in one of the most stable and secure countries in the last 46 years really doesn’t prepare you for anything like this. When in the 1980s the cold war was at its worst (for my perception of the time) we had a bigger fear of the USSR invading Europe then I had 3 days ago regarding a Russian invasion of the Ukraine.

Personally I feel utterly helpless in this situation and I really hope the people with common sense, that are demonstrating for peace on the streets of Russia right, now will get through and have Putin stop or get him out of office.

For any potential member of the site who has family in the Ukraine please feel free to drop me a PM if you need anything and I’ll see what we can do.

Stay safe people. Be nice to each other.

[tankkommanderParticipant 6424xp 3]

Looking at my Team Yankee collection now makes me kind of sad.

Solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Solidarity with the oppressed people of Russia, especially those brave enough to take to the streets to protest against this war knowing they will be arrested and thrown in jail by a state machine run by Putin.

Let us always remember the final words of the 13 brave defenders of Zmiiny (Snake Island)…”Russian warship, go f**k yourself!”

[demonsub 12746xp 0]

Good call @sundancer.

But yeah the world’s going to hell and things just seem to be going from bad to worse. I just hope there’s enough unrest in Russia to change something for the better.

My thoughts go out to the people in the Ukraine.

(sorry but I’m really bad a this type of stuff).

On a personal note I suffer from mild anxiety and this certainly doesn’t help, is that being a little selfish, perhaps, but apart from a few headlines I’m staying away from most news. It seams a lot of news shows spend too much time obsessed with the horrible details and I don’t want to see that.

As I’ve already read somewhere, Make war on the tabletop not with other people, or something like that.

Eldon Ring just released today, I’m going to shut myself in and absorb myself in a video game.

[sundancer 42985xp 2]

There is nothing selfish about caring for your own mental health. It doesn’t help anybody if you end up falling into a downward spiral. So don’t worry @demonsub  andas always:

 

Stay safe, stay sane.

[limburger 21714xp 1]

I’m afraid it is too late for ‘common sense’
Like last time Putin will get what he wants and the rest of the world isn’t going to lift a finger to stop him as that could start WW3

Just look at what Saddam managed to do before the Americans and their allies tried to stop him …
I have zero faith in whatever measures the EU is going to inflict upon him, because everyone already knew what they would do and Putin has more than enough brain cells to do the math.

That’s all I’m going to say about what’s happening over there.

I’d rather focus on hobby and happy thoughts, because there is fuck all we can do about anything that is happening over there.
As such I prefer to worry about things I can fix.

[tankkommanderParticipant 6424xp 0]

@limburger There are things you can do. As a consumer you have a choice which companies to support with your hobby £/$/€ etc. The problem is that is is getting harder for consumers to make informed choices because of lack of information.

Battlefront mark their products as Made in Malaysia.

Osprey books are marked as printed in the UK.

Loke…no idea [edit- some products are marked as made in china, others not marked so must assume also made in china]. North Star Minis…no idea. Not marked on the books/boxes.

Epic Encounters from Steamforged, and the unpainted D&D minis, clearly marked Made in China.

 

 

[limburger 21714xp 0]

Sure … but as you said : the information is tricky to find at best and even then it may not be the entire truth.
And I don’t want to abandon what little hobby I do have just because a company wasn’t completely honest and ethical somewhere in the production of it’s product.

The one thing I can do is to wait for price to match what I want to spend, which means no pre-orders or day 1 purchases.

I used to dislike Steam, because it still is DRM and does not allow for off-line play by default (and I do not expect Valve to release a no-DRM patch ever despite what the fanboys like to claim Valve would do if they ever go broke).
That resistance has gone, because it has become the only realistic platform to buy pc games. I do avoid any games that attempt to add another layer of DRM on top of that.

GoG.com always looked like a good alternative, because they do DRM-free games … except with the shenanigans that happened behind the scenes at the production of Cyberpunk 2077 they aren’t the ‘clean’ option they should have been.

Net result was that I didn’t buy CP2077 until a few days ago when it was at 50% discount and the latest patch (v1.5) became available.

As for the pirate route … that is just too much trouble for too little gain and I’d still be supporting a morally and ethically corrupt team. The best I can do is avoid games from the morally bankrupt publishers like EA, WarnerBrothers, Ubisoft and Activision/Blizzard by default, but even I can’t deny that there are still a few occassional gems I really like. However I’m glad that there are soo many games I can afford to pick & choose.

Tabletop hobby is similar. I just cannot stop buying from GW because of what they are, because what they produce does have some nice stuff. I’m not going to scream ‘GW is evil’, because that is stupid.

I’d rather focus on what good bits they do produce (their plastic kits are newbie friendly compared to 99% that’s out there) and then find a way to use that in games are better from a game mechanical point of view.

[tankkommanderParticipant 6424xp 0]

You can support humanitarian aid for the people of Ukraine here https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/ukraine-crisis-appeal

[limburger 21714xp 1]

Also appropiate for the current situation :

https://store.steampowered.com/app/282070/This_War_of_Mine

https://www.gog.com/en/game/this_war_of_mine_complete_edition

11 bit studios team statement:#FuckTheWar#Ukraine @RedCrossUkraine @Ukraine pic.twitter.com/bVqBlZnR8j

— 11 bit studios (@11bitstudios) February 24, 2022

It is the most depressing game I’ve ever played, provided you don’t play it for the mechanics and actually look at what you’re doing and the effects your actions have.

[sundancer 42985xp 1]

“This war of mine” is really a game you need a stomach for. I remember the first time playing it. The board game is only slightly better because there are no voice actors and music to set you in the mood.

It’s Sunday, the sun is shining, the puller for the blinds snapped so the bathroom now is dark, still can’t eat properly and it’s XLBS time…

I’m going to grab myself a coffee and then watch the crew.

[limburger 21714xp 0]

yeah .. .. played it twice and the endings I got were beyond bleak.

You really need to be in a happy place before you even think about playing this game.

[demonsub 12746xp 0]

I’d rather focus on hobby and happy thoughts, because there is fuck all we can do about anything that is happening over there.

@limburger Yep, pretty much my thinking generally (and that goes for Covid, politicians and other things I could get annoyed/upset about). If you personally cannot do anything about it then try not to let it bother you.

I got no hobby done over the weekend, it’s on a hiatus while I play through Eldon Ring on my PS4. I did play an introductory game of Reichbusters a friend got on Kickstarter on Saturday which was quite fun, although I suspect he got a few of the rules wrong as the game was insanely easy.

I’m also off work this week and hopefully it won’t rain too much so I can go out for a walk and listen to podcasts.

[sundancer 42985xp 1]

It’s Monday. Or should I say moanday? Why? Let me tell you. Be me and:

• forget to set the alarm
• dream of missing a dentists appointment
• oversleep
• lock yourself in the car because of freezing temps the car opening mechanism works from the outside but not within. And the windows are frozen shut
• drive to work and still not be able to open the door from within but at least the windows now go down.

Bloody hell!

[limburger 21714xp 0]

@demonsub Elden Ring ?

Looks like  Demon Souls with horses … and I’m not a fan of such a dark and depressing world.

I’m playing Cyberpunk 2077 (which isn’t a ‘happy place’ either but at least there’s colours), which isn’t quite the bad game that people were claiming it was.
Sure … the world is only skin deep and the pedestrians do look like clones (if you don’t own a monster of a machine), but I think that given the size of the environment it is the best that could be done. The crafting and the loot is the one thing that I don’t like. I haven’t even begun with the main quest line though, so I’m still exploring the neighbourhood in order to get used to how things work. I’ve found my first smart weapon … now I need to get the gear to use it.

@sundancer I think that was nature’s way of telling you :

1. you should have stayed at home
2. you may reconsider buying a new car

😉

[sundancer 42985xp 0]

I’m not saying you’re wrong…

 

 

…but a new car isn’t an option in any way shape or form

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