Obviously a woman because that's what communism is. But which woman?

Sadly he died late last year after struggling with alcoholism for a long time, which is very saddening to hear. He was a funny guy, and his videos are entertaining. They usually focus on beating Bethesda games like Skyrim, Fallout, etc., but not always. He made alot of them, I recommend giving em' a look if you haven't!

The Super Nintendo version or the Switch remake?

It's a Commodore 64-styled game that's very much Ultima meets HP Lovecraft (the horrors from outer space part, not the racism part)

The ending was, uh, not what it sets you up to expect. It was rather shocking, and felt appropriately Lovecraftian. Either way, it's got me itching for more of this stuff, and I might look into playing Ultima 7, assuming there's a decent modernization of it out there. This game left me wanting more. Which I guess is a good endorsement.

https://x.com/JamrockHobo/status/1799090939966947689 Bonus question: what game would you consider as COMMUNIST as disco elysium?

Capcom has pulled from Hokuto no Ken's Raoh in their redesign of M. Bison and I'm going to ~~FUCKING BLOW~~ buy this shit like a dumb paypiggy

Previous thread(s):

Year 1

Diary of Thikut "Porkroll" Mafolustuth, Stonecarver, Militia recruit

• 1 Granite, 101:

Almost a year has passed since we struck the earth here at Roomtheaters. The comforts of the old Mountainhome, Luckclasp have almost completely faded out of memory. All which remains is the strain of one of the hardest winters I can recall. Despite that, the time has passed quickly. We have made ourselves quite busy trying to establish the settlement. Between the madness of Inod Ustuthuzol (poor bastard), the battle with the Troglodites, the constant influx of new faces, and all the work being done on the fortress, it has been hard to keep track of it all.

I have made it my New Year's resolution to begin keeping a journal.

• 12 Granite, 101

A pair of Elven merchants from The Squashed Clearing have arrived to establish trade relations. The dwarven children, dripping with curiosity, eagerly rushed a pair of wooden bins filled with the Miners' bounty of gemstones to the trade depot, to catch a glimpse of these strange, pointy-eared creatures. Nomal Ducimottem, the fortress Broker caught them at the last second and hissed at them to leave the wooden boxes downstairs. The Elves are known to be touchy about the use of wooden implements.

Rumors swirl around about Elven caravans bringing exotic animals to trade. Trained war elephants, tamed lions. Sadly, this group only brought a porcupine and a wolf with them. In fact, they didn't bring much of practical value at all. To keep them happy, we bought everything that looked fermentable, along with some strange wooden puzzle boxes and toy boats for the kids. Hopefully next year they will bring a breeding pair of trained war rhinoceroses.

• 19 Granite

Dolomite has been discovered in and around the caverns. This flux stone a crucial step towards the establishment of a steel industry, and the equipment of a state-of-the-art military force. Glory to the miners!

Hopefully I will get my hands on a ☼masterful☼ steel battle axe by the year's end.

• 2 Slate

A convoy of migrants has arrived at the fortress. 15 in total, a good number of them skilled in various trades. The riches we've traded to keep a couple scraps of food in our pantry must have given them the impression we're sitting on a dragon's hoard and living in luxury over here. Just wait until they see the living accommodations! I've seen bathtubs in the Human tenements which are more spacious than these fucking dorms.

Population: 38

• 14 Slate

The mood has been sombre in this place ever since we settled here. With every waking day there is little to look forward to but work. The explosion in residents has made the need for better housing more apparent than ever. So we decided to kill two birds with one stone. We will raise our spirits by founding Banikuvel Rigoth Iteb - "Hexbear, the Craft of Posts" - a new tavern. Our current block of dorms will eventually become an inn for visiting guests, while new housing for permanent residents will be built deeper into the Earth, in a more defensible position.

• 23 Slate

Alath Nebelber has given birth to a baby boy right on the floor of the new tavern.

Population: 39

• 1 Felsite

Stukos Uzolakur has become a professional Furnace Operator, by smelting the fortress's very first batch of STEEL BARS. Craftsdwarves throughout the fortress are lining up to get their hands on this cutting edge material, but supplies remain very limited. Until supplies can be increased, it will be used only to create munitions for the militia.

• 13 Felsite

The metalsmiths have delivered us our first batch of steel swords and battle axes.

• 28 Felsite

Dodok Oddomuthir, an Armorer, has been taken by a fey mood and has immediately begun work on a strange construction.

• 5 Hematite

Dodok Oddomuthir has crafted Leshalkivish Ashok, a sleek silver high boot! She offers it to the Square Gates.

It menaces with spikes of silver.

Seriously? One boot? Not even a pair? Well, at least we have a legendary armorer now.

• 12 Malachite

Summer progresses slowly. The metalurgists and smiths continue to produce steel armaments, and we have begun training with their new shiny weapons. Progress on new dorms below the cavern layer inches along. Moods are rising somewhat, but there is still a lot of dissatisfaction among the fort.

• 20 Malachite

Construction has begun on a temple dedicated to the Demonation of Guards, a popular religious tendency among citizens of the fortress.

Dodok Oddomuthir, legendary armorer, is forging several ☼Masterpiece☼ steel mail shirts.

• 25 Malachite

10 More immigrants. Trappers, milkers, and butchers.

Population 49

• 28 Malachite

Kib Ethadedem, Leatherworker, has given birth to a boy

Population 50

• 14 Galena

After checking to make sure there were no troglodites, the doors to the cavern were opened. All of a sudden, troglodites appeared. GREAT! Time to try out this new steel battle axe.

...

Zulban Vosutnish, Performer has been found dead.

Limul Asnakuth, Child has been found dead.

• 19 Galena

Pure madness has ensued in the caverns for several days now. Thirteen troglodytes, one TROLL, and two dwarves lay dead. Another troll roams the caverns as dwarves rush to gather cave spider silk. Two human monster hunters patrols the cavern.

• 1 Limestone

Autumn is here. Recent events have proven that we are not yet capable of dealing with major threats, and we need to be careful. If it were not for the Human monster hunter, who sacrificed his life defeating the troll, we could have been in big trouble. The caverns will remain shut until we have some sparring experience under our belts.

• 3 Limestone

No one has seen Asen Rashducim, Stonecrafter, in over a week. We fear the worst.

• 11 Limestone

It turns out Utesh Holdfaith, the Human trollslayer is still alive, despite losing the ability to walk and being trapped in the cavern for weeks. He has been welcomed back into the fortress, as another Human monster slayer, Spibsa Atemodda slips through the gate to take his place. Meanwhile, a Dwarven caravan has arrived.

Expedition leader Cog Itebirid meets with the outpost liaison. Discussions remain strictly about trade. We'll try to get some turkeys next year. They breed quickly and provide a good source of food and leather.

We purchase all the subterranean seeds we can, along with a variety of foodstuffs to prepare for the winter and keep our dwarves from going insane eating nothing but plump helmets all year.

• 14 Limestone

Fan favorite background music track "Strike the Earth" plays for the first time

• 15 Limestone

Sigun Lisidlokum has been taken by a fey mood and claimed the carpenter's workshop!

She says she wants logs, silk, and cut gems. We have all of that shit already. Oh well.

• 14 Sandstone

Sigun Lisidlokum has begun a mysterious construction

• 19 Sandstone

Sigun cas created a legendary hazel wooden splint... neat.

• 25 Sandstone

She is now cranking out ☼Masterpiece☼ wooden beds

• 27 Sandstone

More immigrants. Population 56

• 28 Timber

Oh shit, we don't have a craftsdwarf workshop. No wonder why those rock mugs never got made lmao.

• 6 Moonstone

After a year of on and off training, the four core members of the militia have gained enough experience to begin sparring directly with one another using edged weapons

• 22 Moonstone

Human monster slayer Spibsa Atemodda was bested in combat by a Giant Cave Bat. RIP.

• 24 Moonstone

Metalsmith Stukos Uzolakur withdraws from society. He has claimed the metalsmith's forge. He begins working secretly.

• 28 Moonstone

He creates an artifact copper bed! He is now a legendary blacksmith.

• 9 Opal

Moses Amalastesh, Engraver, has given birth to a boy! Tholtig Likotustuth, Trapper, has given birth to a girl!

• 15 Opal

The Denomination of Guards demands a temple complex and high priest

• 28 Obsidian

Well, I never got a ☼Masterpiece☼ battle axe, but I'll settle for this ☼Masterpiece☼ armor.

Outcomes

Though we suffered a few losses, the population has grown from 23 to 58

We now have a LEGENDARY armorer, blacksmith, and carpenter.

Steel production, while not automated, is online. I left 36 bars of steel for the next player.

The militia was culled to four members, but those members are clad in steel and capable of sparring.

The save can be downloaded from https://matapacos.dog/bearmurdered/bearmurdered102.tar.xz

Recommendations to next player

Dig deeper

Military can use expansion now that we are shitting masterpiece steel armor. I culled it initially because I prefer for dwarves to train and become attached to high quality weapons. Also a handful of of iron / copper weapons are forbidden but might prove useful in an emergency.

The only steel armor produced so far is helms and chain mail. Leg protection would be nice, and SHIELDS, which take TIME to train with (but beware, not all dwarves are strong enough to use weapons like axes effectively with one hand. Maybe just give the swordsdwarfs shields)

Fortress needs better defenses. I tried to dig in a way where partitions can be built (including above and below the new housing area), but no ~~drawbridges~~ gates have been built.

There is an active petition to expand the temple to a temple complex

Stockpiles are not streamlined at all

The hospital is effectively non-functional. It needs a couple chests for storage, a bucket, a source of fresh water, operating tables, and soap. Soap is more difficult to produce than you might imagine.

Choose a dwarf and give them a nickname

Please read

I enjoy both but its really cemented why I love dragon age so much more.

These are story based games set in worlds created entirely for these games. Its common to have discussion about how different story events could have gone differently, or what will happen in universe after the events of the most recent installment. Obviously, how these worlds are set up and how the story is told effects the discussions a lot.

In mass effect society spreads across the galaxy and encompasses trillions of individuals across thousands of planets. Despite that, the major story beats hinge on how you treated individual characters, or whether they are alive or not. Like whether an artificial plague causing 99% of krogan pregnancies to miscarry is justified is completely down to whether the good leader is in charge.

Despite trillions of individuals and complex economics all major conflict boils down to species versus species. All krogan, all asari, all turians are just like that so of course this has happened. There are hints in game that there are many different cultures within each species but we get very little evidence of that, and almost entirely in the 3rd game. Krogan (giant toad people with natural armor, anger issues, and a love of violence) are shown to be maybe not inherently violent individuals that care a bit about others, but thats mostly it. We get one pretty butch Asari (otherwise all feminine species).

So when the community talks about these things its always on individualist or species based terms. It is almost impossible to do materialist analysis because of how the games are made. When the community talks about the game arguments are more heated and personal. There are lots more gotcha type lines than in the dragon age community. I suspect this hostile dynamic could contribute to why there are obviously way more women and queer people in the dragon age community.

Mass effect's story is also about exceptional individuals overcoming impossible odds, which lands way better with men, in general, than women, in general.

In the dragon age community discussions revolve around things like, how does the church use drugs to control their private army? How will giving the dwarves a tool that enables them to put their souls into tanks effect their society? How do independent kingdoms respond to a paramilitary organization run by a prophet encroaching on their land?

Mass effect discussions are, "do the volus deserve a council seat?" Instead of, "How could the Volus get a council seat?" or, "How will the volus having a council seat change existing power dynamics?"

Dragon age stories are, "how does magical talent being both random and dangerous effect society?" "Is it worth it to consort with demons to gain power?" Mass effect stories are, "oo ouch owie my magic gives me migraines." (I like Kaiden don't @ me, the whole child soldier bit both games have is nice)

There are other differences too, like dragon age having braver character writing that scares away some of the chuds. Most people on the dragon age subreddit don't like Vivienne, but understand how her inclusion makes the game better. That kind of subelty doesn't exist in mass effect discussions because the game literally wasn't designed for that level of depth. All characters that are apart of your "squad" are meant to be likeable or at least the kind of person their players would respect. Dragon age release characters also in your "squad" like Sera and Vivienne knowing that tons of their players will hate them.

In summary, mass effect is lacking a pair, let alone a quad. (krogan have 4 testicles) (Please laugh I mentioned testicles)

This is underselling ME3 a bit, it was relatively anti-gamer for its time. ME1 and 2 get the tho. Even though I like them anyway.

Edit: how could I forget Dragon age has literally actually good trans representation. Theres a FtM guy whos literally just the coolest fighty bro and his dudes respect him.

"So If I grew up under the Qun they'd treat me like a real man?" "You ARE a real man Krem."

Edit 2: adding data from reddit surveys

The dragon age subreddit is 45.2% women (3.2% trans), 44% men (1.9% trans), 9.1% non binary and 1.7% other. 45.3% Heterosexual

The Mass effect subreddit is 76.4% men (0.6% trans), 19.7% women (1.5% trans), and 6% total trans people. 73.9% hetero

Dragon age reddit 2023 demographics survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1vi-9XTyIx2kvu4hXb309b0NvdWL7Ub_Yj73le6WXzpI/viewanalytics

Mass effect reddit 2019 demographics survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdNHQxT7COKRuYIaoHBXt0s3DOdq2RgPCLlJg2RCN5pf3kcKA/viewanalytics

https://twitter.com/punkittdev/status/1799188321681502644

https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/we-love-you-we-miss-you-we-hate-money-ultrakill-and-gloomwood-publisher-new-blood-interactive-turns-a-billboard-into-a-grave-marker-for-fallen-studios-including-tango-gameworks-and-arkane-austin/

The billboard lays out the start and end-dates of several studios. Where possible, I'll also go ahead and link to our coverage of their closures if you'd like to find out more:

• Arkane Austin, 2006-2024.

• Roll7, 2008-2024.

• Tango Gameworks, 2010-2024.

• Volition Inc., 1993-2023.

• London Studio, 2002-2024.

"Everyone laid off, downsized, & 'made redundant'."

Playing spongebob the cosmic shake (yes yes low-rent licensed game, look life sucks and I'm getting dopamine any way I can) and I don't know why Manta Fe just had me burst out laughing.

Am I going insane?

Seeing as games companies are using AI to mass report sites for DMCA I figured it'd be a good time to circle the wagons around safe sites you can use for your roms needs. Here's my list I have bookmarked so far:

https://vimm.net/ (recently got hit with a dmca and had to remove stuff)

https://r-roms.github.io/ (megathread of roms stuff)

https://gog-games.to/ (my go-to for GOG games)

https://edgeemu.net/ (lots of classics)

https://fitgirl-repacks.site/ (excellent modern PC games)

Of course we also have archive.org which I hope most people know about by now.

For fun here's some video game private servers:

https://github.com/XiPrivateServers/Servers/blob/main/SERVERS.md (final fantasy xi private server listings)

https://www.eqemulator.org/index.php?pageid=serverlist (everquest private servers)

https://github.com/diasurgical/devilutionX (source port of diablo 1, hosts multiplayer games)

https://slashdiablo.net/ (diablo II private server)

https://cp.payonstories.com/ (best classic ragnarok online server I found)

So I missed some account migration period and I've been getting the run around but automated chat services all morning.

Did Microsoft just buy Minecraft so they could disable accounts and recharge people later? I just want to play on the server my friends just created but now I can't?

I tried to connect to it and got a "connection refused: getstockopt" error