Free Talk // Open bar, we're not turning the lights off

[LacertineForest]

I still plan on putting together some more substantial videos, but here is a quick montage of macro video I took on my last SCUBA diving trip in January to the Philippines. I have edited over 100 clips already, and I'm still planning out how I'm going to group content together to create some cohesive, shorter videos.

Cool video, but where's the David Attenborough voiceover?

All in due time. If only I had that voice!

[Atkins&Rebel]

There's not a lot of QB's that he's worked with out there that you'd bring in as a backup. John Woolford doesn't inspire much confidence.

Sean Mannion and Blake Bortles have retired. Case Keenun is like 38.

I suppose Drew Lock might be the best option if they are looking for someone with familiarity as a backup, but I suspect they look at someone who has traits they like and not necessarily someone who has played for Waldron in the past.

Couple of guys to keep an eye on...Minshew obviously. Brandon Allen, Tyler Huntley, Easton Stick...hell they may even keep Peterman.

Or they could roll the dice with Williams/Bagent.

Still pimping Mariota

Mariota has proven to be worse than several of the back up QBs out there.

For my money, give me Locke if Waldron signs off. Jacoby Brissett if we can get him cheap enough.

[Grizzled]

I still plan on putting together some more substantial videos, but here is a quick montage of macro video I took on my last SCUBA diving trip in January to the Philippines. I have edited over 100 clips already, and I'm still planning out how I'm going to group content together to create some cohesive, shorter videos.

Incredible! Glad to see there's no video of a huge shark swimming towards you and then everything goes black ....

[wab]

Charles Leno is getting released! Maybe we can get him back! I think someone here has a Leno jersey , so it wouldnt go to waste if we signed him! Good Karma! #dontletitgotowaste

Goddammit don’t.

[Bears Whiskey Nut]

I was so disappointed by Fallout 4. Just found it bland and I couldn't wait for it to be over, by the time I got to the end. Rockstar always does a great job of making the world feel alive and having interesting and compelling storylines, so I think I'd feel the same as you, here.

I had never played a Fallout game, 4 was my first and I loved it. Were the earlier ones better?

I think they're all good. I love the targeting feature. I think the power suits run out of juice too fast though.

[karhu]

All in due time. If only I had that voice!

Or just go a different direction:



Ahem. Great stuff; jealous that you saw some cuttlefish (we lived in the Caribbean for a while and got out there a bit, and it took me too long to discover that I was looking in the wrong ocean for my favorite critters).

[dplank]

I had never played a Fallout game, 4 was my first and I loved it. Were the earlier ones better?

I think they're all good. I love the targeting feature. I think the power suits run out of juice too fast though.

The Power Suit was the coolest part, along with the general feel of walking around in that suit while Nocturnes by Chopin was playing - I just really got sucked into it. I kinda liked that the power suit would run out of juice, it made the game a lot more challenging in the early stages.

BTW - a TV series based on Fallout 4 is coming out in April. I'm pretty stoked about it.

[dplank]

There's not a lot of QB's that he's worked with out there that you'd bring in as a backup. John Woolford doesn't inspire much confidence.

Sean Mannion and Blake Bortles have retired. Case Keenun is like 38.

I suppose Drew Lock might be the best option if they are looking for someone with familiarity as a backup, but I suspect they look at someone who has traits they like and not necessarily someone who has played for Waldron in the past.

Couple of guys to keep an eye on...Minshew obviously. Brandon Allen, Tyler Huntley, Easton Stick...hell they may even keep Peterman.

Or they could roll the dice with Williams/Bagent.

Still pimping Mariota

Mariota blows

[The Marshall Plan]

@LacertineForest

I figured you'd appreciate this one.

I have a teenager and she had been using my PS5 so much I went out and got her one.

So I'm setting her up with a bunch of games via the PS store. Later that day she comes up to me and asks for a Resident Evil game because she's into horror and wants to play one.

I'm like yeah sure. So we get online and try and figure out which one is the best one.

The PS4 or PS5 remake of Resident Evil 2 came back as the best. I about freaked out. I remember playing that game when it first came out.

They remade it and the graphics look pretty good!

What's weirding me out is that my kid is playing the same game I played like 25(?) years ago just remade for a new platform.

[LacertineForest]

@LacertineForest

I figured you'd appreciate this one.

I have a teenager and she had been using my PS5 so much I went out and got her one.

So I'm setting her up with a bunch of games via the PS store. Later that day she comes up to me and asks for a Resident Evil game because she's into horror and wants to play one.

I'm like yeah sure. So we get online and try and figure out which one is the best one.

The PS4 or PS5 remake of Resident Evil 2 came back as the best. I about freaked out. I remember playing that game when it first came out.

They remade it and the graphics look pretty good!

What's weirding me out is that my kid is playing the same game I played like 25(?) years ago just remade for a new platform.

Man, I faked being sick to skip school and play RE2 back in the day. I haven't played the remake yet, but I heard it's great.

I have the PSVR2 and there are two RE games for it. I've only tried RE: Village, but it can be pretty intense! I would love to play RE4 on it, because I liked how that game was a bit more action-oriented, but just haven't had much time for gaming lately.

[docc]

..ah..boomer here..

We skipped school for chicks..or play ball..or/and BEER

I got into PC games with original Doom..Hexen..the DUKE..then HL1
and BEER..

[dplank]

I’m a straight down the middle GenX ‘ r. Grunged out and everything lol. Once in the same month I saw Nirvana, The Breeders, Soundgarden, Rage Against the Machine, and Ice Cube all play at the old 9:30 club. Those were good days

[Ditka’s dictaphone]

Yeah they are going to have to sign at least one, maybe two, plus drafting one or two.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling anyone?

https://dawindycity.com/posts/former-pa ... hqrpzmn28x

Given the choice, I’ll take “anyone”

[Noots]

So much to comment on here with all that. Like @dplank I’m a generation X guy. My best bud learned to play guitar and bought a PA a mic for me to sing into and we must have practiced Pearl Jam’s “Alive” a million times, along with assorted Nirvana songs like “About a girl” and “Rape Me” and were old enough that the first song we practiced was Sabbath’s “Sweet Leaf.” I’m such a dumbass—I was middle 20s then and didn’t get the balls to learn an instrument until I was fucking 45 (keyboard). I’ve played in a few bands and played out solo at open mics in a choice dive bar or two in Chicago for about 10 years thereafter until moving here to the desert, where the only people playing at open mics are people that should actually be gigging, or are gigging and using them to release their CDs. I’m seriously not good enough for that. Anyway, music is a passion here.

@The Marshall Plan @Moriarty @Rusty Trombagent I loathe FPS games, and am a dyed in the wool isometric player as well. And to TMP’s point about replatforming the old—Two of my favorite old time games were the Dark Alliance Baldur’s Gate games that I played on the Original XBox. I have an XBox One and when they got replatformed there in the last couple of years, I got them and refound that joy. The totally remade/new release Dark Alliance was pretty cool, especially for fighting but got formulaic very fast, and I’m not big on arcade style games where you have to play out and beat the whole mission with no opportunity to take a piss or save or get a drink. I’ve got too much other spontaneous old person stuff I need to deal with, LOL.

Right now, Diablo IV is my addiction. It’s ok, but a bit tedious. In many ways like previous releases. My Barbarian is around level 52 or so, and maybe it’s time to come back through as a different character class. I loved the heck out of The Witcher 3 game. The story is rich and the fighting is good. I’d say the leveling up of the weapons could be just a bit better. I’ve always done these games in solo fashion/not connected to the web with a profile. I feel that if I did that, I’d make commitments to play along with others that would just suck my time away from other hobbies and interests. Call me anti-social. Some other games that I enjoyed include Devil May Cry 5, Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning. I thought the Monster Hunter stuff was a nice diversion but grew tired of it and gave it to Mrs. Noots’ son. I spent a bunch of time playing a replatformed oldie—Neverwinter Nights a bit, too. Was interesting but became quite tedious. Wondering if the new Baldur’s Gate 3 would be fun for me or if I’d feel it’s too much like Neverwinter Nights and not like the Dark Alliance hack and slash dungeon crawling vibe.

[Moriarty]

Another turn-based isometric (not squad combat) that I'd rate super highly is Invisible Inc. Settings are super adjustable, so I spent months just slowly dialing, dialing, dialing the difficulty up until I reached impossible.

[Grizzled]

Connor Williams is the top center prospect and recoving from an ACL injury. Look at Andre James instead, expected to sign a 3 year $24M deal ($14M guaranteed, $3.5M cap hit in '24). Danielle Hunter, Josh Allen (Jax), and Brian Burns will get insane offers. They have played well enough to earn big $. But, instead, look at Bryce Huff, A. J. Espensa, or Jonathon Greenard, all young and ascending. The defense needs its 3T to be the engine. Chris Jones is already 30, he'll ask for at $28 to $30M+. Justin Madubuike will probably get upwards of a 4 year $85M contract. I don't know if the Chiefs and Ravens will put the tag on them if deals aren't reached by the start of free agency. Just say no to Mike Evans. Perhaps Calvin Ridley although he'll get upwards to $17 to $20M annually and is 29 years old. Definitely look at Curtis Samuel for a slot guy, pay the man.

[The Marshall Plan]

Random Update and Thoughts:

Gaming

Grand Theft Auto 5

I did the stock market glitch on the PS5 version and now have each player at about $1.4B or so. Bought all the properties and just enjoying the post-SP open world insanity.

Ghost of Tsushima

I beat both the regular campaign and the DLC of Ghost of Tsushima. I strongly recommend this game. Lots of fun. Once I got about 1/3 of the way through the game it was a breeze. My character was built up so much from the side missions that it made the campaign easy. Keep grinding until you max out your katana. Then when you get the Sakai armor set, grind on upgrading that before proceeding.

Spider-Man

I'm back to Spider-Man on my PS5. Finished Act 2 last night and now am in Act 3. The enemies are getting a bit ridiculous because Sable (from the comics) shows up with armored soldiers that are OP for what they should be in the game. I'm around the 80% completion stage based on the status screen. Having a lot of fun unlocking the new suits. With the suit powers, I'm still using Electric Punch even though I've unlocked a lot of others. Electric Punch works through blocking so you can stun anyone. The combos you can do in this game are ridiculous.

Lords of the Fallen

I bought this one the other day and have not played it yet. It had been on my Wishlist forever but was buried on the backlog because I was playing other things. I think Sony knew I beat GoT because the day after I beat that game I got a notification that LOTF was 50% off in the Store so I bought it. This looks like a serious game which I'm cool with so I'm watching lots of YouTubes to figure out the class I want to be. I'm probably going with Dark Crusader.

Elden Ring

This has been my homework on YouTube for a while now. Been watching tons of early OP builds and am leaning towards Dark Mage. IDK why but this game intimidates me, but it shouldn't. Fuck that. I can beat this game.

@LacertineForest Have you looked at the DLC that's coming for Elden Ring?

@Noots I was big into FPS in the olden days with Doom, Doom 2, Quake, Quake 2, and Unreal Tournament. That was my scene. Lately though the genre is stale. I do get Call Of Duty every year, because, you know, it's America and gamers play CoD, but otherwise there's not much there for me. The new Halo from a couple years ago was a lot of fun.

Comics

I finished the three volume set of Death Dealer and it was great. If you're into fantasy like Conan this is worth a look. Finished a Conan graphic novel this morning and trying to decide what's next; probably a Batman story.

[Rusty Trombagent]

I've never heard of Invisible, Inc. Jagged Alliance 3 does look fun, I've been waiting for the price to go down on it because I'm both cheap and patient.

I'm mostly a story/writing guy though, so something like Diablo has zero appeal to me. If the mechanics/systems are pleasantly complex/clean enough, I'll usually overlook undercooked writing (xcom/shadowrun), but mostly I just want to play games like Pillars of Eternity and all those old Black Isle Studios games.

[LacertineForest]

Elden Ring

This has been my homework on YouTube for a while now. Been watching tons of early OP builds and am leaning towards Dark Mage. IDK why but this game intimidates me, but it shouldn't. Fuck that. I can beat this game.

@LacertineForest Have you looked at the DLC that's coming for Elden Ring?

Atta boy! From your description of GoT, you and I had very similar experiences. Without spoiling anything, I have to know what you thought of the end of the story from the main game. I thought it was masterfully done.

Back to Elden Ring - given what you've said about GoT, I have no doubt you'll be able to beat it. I think the difficulty is overblown, and if you're watching YouTube videos, you will have no trouble. It's super helpful, especially if it's your first real attempt at playing a FromSoftware game. Once you crack the code, it will open up all the other From games. Beware though, they're addicting as hell! I think the most intimidating thing about Elden Ring is just how huge and long it is (insert "that's what she said" joke here).

Regarding the DLC, hell yeah I saw the trailer and I have no problem shelling out $40 for it because they really put a lot into their DLC content. I have a feeling it's going to be a massive expansion because they've essentially been working on it for 2+ years. Given that they didn't have to create the game engine and could just build on the game they already released, I am ready to drop everything in my life to play it from the moment it releases.

[The Marshall Plan]

Elden Ring

This has been my homework on YouTube for a while now. Been watching tons of early OP builds and am leaning towards Dark Mage. IDK why but this game intimidates me, but it shouldn't. Fuck that. I can beat this game.

@LacertineForest Have you looked at the DLC that's coming for Elden Ring?

Atta boy! From your description of GoT, you and I had very similar experiences. Without spoiling anything, I have to know what you thought of the end of the story from the main game. I thought it was masterfully done.

The Choice at the end game was interesting because how does that roll into the inevitable Ghost Of Tsushima 2?

GoT would make an amazing movie.

Did you play Gears Of War 5? There was a similar deal there with a huge choice (This was more towards the end not AT the end.) that has to have an impact in Gears Of War 6.

I wonder what will be canon?

[Moriarty]

mostly I just want to play games like Pillars of Eternity and all those old Black Isle Studios games.

I was just going to bring that up, too.
I just finished this morning and have already started my second run through.

PoE2 didn't sell well, but reviews were almost as good. I'll get to it, eventually.
Avowed (PoE3) is being made into a FPS, just like what happened to Fallout!

[LacertineForest]

Atta boy! From your description of GoT, you and I had very similar experiences. Without spoiling anything, I have to know what you thought of the end of the story from the main game. I thought it was masterfully done.

The Choice at the end game was interesting because how does that roll into the inevitable Ghost Of Tsushima 2?

GoT would make an amazing movie.

Did you play Gears Of War 5? There was a similar deal there with a huge choice (This was more towards the end not AT the end.) that has to have an impact in Gears Of War 6.

I wonder what will be canon?

I haven't played a Gears game since the OG on the X360. I agree that GoT would make a great movie, and with the way Sony has been pushing their franchise to the big and small screen, I wouldn't be surprised at all if it ended up there.

As far as a sequel goes, I wasn't sure if they would continue the same story line or pick up some other story in the same universe. If they do continue with the same story, they'll have to pick one of the options and/or write in something to one of the endings so that the outcome is essentially the same, in terms of what is going on in the world with regard to Jin. It will be interesting to see how they handle it.

[dplank]

How much time do you guys spend playing video games? I don’t play much unless my wife is out of town lol…

[The Marshall Plan]

How much time do you guys spend playing video games? I don’t play much unless my wife is out of town lol…

During the week with work it's only an hour a day. I get home from the office or logoff when I work from home and I'm a bit gassed so I get an hour in and then wind down for the day.

Starting Friday night though it's Game On especially when fishing season is shut down.

On the weekends it's as much as possible. I have no idea how much Spider-Man I've played today. I have the TV in the Great Room with the XBX and PS5, then in front of me on the coffee table is the laptop I talk to you guys with. Sometime in between all of that I read.

Like now while making this post. Halfway through typing I remembered that I wanted to pre-order Dune 2 on Prime Video. I hate going to the theater. I stopped here mid-post went to Prime, pre-ordered the movie and came back here.

I cannot stand just sitting doing nothing. I am always doing something. Fishing, working out, gaming, reading, etc. I'm never sitting on the couch staring off at whatever and it's rare I finish a movie straight through because I'll get an inkling to do something 20 minutes in and I'm like OK let's go.

[LacertineForest]

I did a longer video for the purposes of submitting to a YouTube channel to have them review and give me feedback. It's the first time I really put together an entire package (titles/text, transitions, audio, etc), so I'm looking forward to learning from it! It's a bit longer than the last one (about 5 mins), and I organized it into 10 groups of fish/critters. I agonized over the music - it was easily the hardest part for me (picking it out, that is - I didn't make it). It really made me appreciate people who have to create moods and atmospheres by pairing music to video.

Anyway, here it is:

[Grizzled]

I did a longer video for the purposes of submitting to a YouTube channel to have them review and give me feedback. It's the first time I really put together an entire package (titles/text, transitions, audio, etc), so I'm looking forward to learning from it! It's a bit longer than the last one (about 5 mins), and I organized it into 10 groups of fish/critters. I agonized over the music - it was easily the hardest part for me (picking it out, that is - I didn't make it). It really made me appreciate people who have to create moods and atmospheres by pairing music to video.

Anyway, here it is:

Great footage, LF. I was thinking some Pink Floyd might have gone well but, then you'd probably have to pay royalties. You wrote 'nudibranches', just sounds dirty ....

[Umbali]

wow ok gaming

So way back in the day after playing any pc game I could get my hands on, I feel in love with my first MMO online game. Everquest. God I played that so much during a time when I was a stay at home dad and it became my social life. I probably ended up making over $ 10k when I got bored and started selling off items and accounts lol.

I then fell in love with orginal World of Warcraft. After a few years and tons of nerfs to make the game easier I kinda just went meh and played every so often.

Fallout 4. Loved it. "Played some of the DLC stuff after beating it a few times with every faction just to see the story line.

Elden Ring. Great game. Been hearing about new updates and my daughter is talking about starting it up again.

Cyberpunk 77. Great game. Still sorta messing around with it on a 2nd play through but got distracted by...

Baldurs Gate 3. First time I have gotten back into a turned based rpg in years. Really enjoying it and can see playing it through a few times with different choices and different builds.

Messed around with Starfield and really enjoyed it, just needs more content.

All of the above for me have been on the PC, and every time i have tried to go back to console games either xbox or ps5 , I struggle with the controller after 30 years of mouse and keyboard playing lol.

Really been thinking about picking up Resident Evil as I missed it somehow orginally.

oh yah and of course Skyrim rocked.

[LacertineForest]

I did a longer video for the purposes of submitting to a YouTube channel to have them review and give me feedback. It's the first time I really put together an entire package (titles/text, transitions, audio, etc), so I'm looking forward to learning from it! It's a bit longer than the last one (about 5 mins), and I organized it into 10 groups of fish/critters. I agonized over the music - it was easily the hardest part for me (picking it out, that is - I didn't make it). It really made me appreciate people who have to create moods and atmospheres by pairing music to video.

Anyway, here it is:

Great footage, LF. I was thinking some Pink Floyd might have gone well but, then you'd probably have to pay royalties. You wrote 'nudibranches', just sounds dirty ....

Thanks for the kind words!

I would love to put some Floyd to a video, but yeah, YouTube would pull the sound immediately and send me a copyright violation. I wouldn't necessarily be penalized, I would just have to prove that I had the rights to the music. In which case, if anyone has an in with David Gilmour, I would love to speak with him

Nudibranches, sadly, aren't too dirty. Nudi= naked, branches = gills. The little frilly things on their butts are their gills. The gills are exposed outside the body, which is why they're considered naked.

[RichH55]

Connor Williams is the top center prospect and recoving from an ACL injury. Look at Andre James instead, expected to sign a 3 year $24M deal ($14M guaranteed, $3.5M cap hit in '24). Danielle Hunter, Josh Allen (Jax), and Brian Burns will get insane offers. They have played well enough to earn big $. But, instead, look at Bryce Huff, A. J. Espensa, or Jonathon Greenard, all young and ascending. The defense needs its 3T to be the engine. Chris Jones is already 30, he'll ask for at $28 to $30M+. Justin Madubuike will probably get upwards of a 4 year $85M contract. I don't know if the Chiefs and Ravens will put the tag on them if deals aren't reached by the start of free agency. Just say no to Mike Evans. Perhaps Calvin Ridley although he'll get upwards to $17 to $20M annually and is 29 years old. Definitely look at Curtis Samuel for a slot guy, pay the man.

Looks like Dolphins will NOT tag Wilkins

I don't think I agree that Espensa is ascending

[The Marshall Plan]

Somebody mentioned Pink Floyd.

Therefore….