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OK, just testing the water here for interest. I'd like to an FG night on Civ 5. It doesn't take that many players, say a maximum of 6, but it does take up a lot of time, so a weekend would be best. If there's any interest I'll look to book something towards maybe the end of the month.

So, I've finally took a small amount of time to start this. Just completed the first mission. Man, this was such stellar writing (for the most part). You don't know what's going on. You don't know who to trust. You don't know what anything is. I haven't played Mass Effect in 6 years. I burned through 3 playthroughs in the summer of 2015. I will admit, playing Mass Effect 1 isn't something I look forward to. 2 and 3 is where it's at for me. However, this is a remaster. And, it's been so long that I don't remember all the fine details. Crazy to think how old this game is and how far BioWare has fallen. It's interesting to see where the politics are given today's current climate. Also, incredibly fun to listen to the story just start to unfold when you already know where this is all going. But, it also makes me remember some of the storylines that were never finished. This is by no means a perfect game. It's not a remake (although, if they really went the way of FFVII Remake, it would have been awesome to see). Even through the first mission, you can see where some of the dialogue trees don't make sense, but you sort of expect that when it comes to dialogue rich games. I do still wish they could have really taken what modders have done over the years and put it into the game. Like, FFS... I want my character to have more hairstyles and longer hair that resembles mine. I want better facial options instead of just a really tan white lady. Like, couldn't have they at least picked up some of their stuff from Andromeda and sort of put it here? Eh. I guess not. The controls feel clunky. But, that's how I always feel when starting a different solo game. It will take me a bit to really just be quick with everything. For now, with the initial set of weapons, I'm quick enough to get even sniper shots off and insta-kill enemies. So far for Mass Effect 1, not much of the gameplay has changed much. The menus are what I remember, and that's going to piss off a lot of players who aren't used to traditional RPGs. So much customization. But, I think it adds a certain depth to the gameplay. If I had like 2 weeks off, I would definitely burn through a full gameplay of ME1 - ME3. Just absorb the whole story again. Unfortunately, I am not of that age with that luxury. So, let's see if I can balance this along with other games once I really get into the meat of the story. I purposely shut off the game after the first mission because I know that once I really get going, next thing I know it's going to be 3am...

Ok, so here's the provisional race calendar for the Summer Season. I've tried avoiding repeating tracks from Spring but a couple have snuck in. Season_Week Track Class s1_wk1 TBC Gr.3 s1_wk2 Monza - No Chicane Gr.3 s1_wk3 Sardenga Track A Gr.3 s1_wk4 Blue Moon Speedway Gr.3 s1_wk5 Tsukuba Circuit Gr.4 s1_wk6 Suzuka Circuit Gr.4 s1_wk7 Sainte-Croix B Gr.3 s1_wk8 Nurburgring Gr.4 s1_wk9 Tokyo _ Wet Race Gr.3 s1_wk10 Mount Panorama Gr.3 s1_wk11 Goodwood Gr.4 s1_wk12 Circuit de la Sarthe Gr.3

6/5/2021 Workout Squat Clean Workshop Find new 1 rep max --> 135lbs (10lb increase) Thoughts: I semi-intentionally took this week off from working out. It was a combination of a high-stress work week, really wanting to sleep, and knowing I needed to be at my most rested if I was going to make a new PR for squat cleans. My goal today was to hit 130lbs. Just 5lbs more than my original PR of 125lbs. I started to worry at 105lbs as it was feeling heavy. But, that's what the correct form is for, right? To lift better and heavier. Fixing my extensions and when to really high pull the bar made all the difference. The first time I did 130lbs, it was sloppy. It counted. But, I wasn't happy with it. So, I did it again. One of the gym guys, we call him Big Dave, was lifting next to me today. He tends to sometimes jump in and "gently" give out pointers. My second lift at 130lbs he said, "Damn. That looked perfect!" Yay me! Time to slap on 5 more pounds. Dave was also going for a high PR. Seems he and I have the same mistakes. It's in our high pull to catch. He missed his lift. I don't know what he was at. 100 more pounds than me lol. My turn to go. I failed at the same place he did. So he came over and said, "We have the same problem. What do you front squat? Over 200lbs, right? From what I remember? So, I think you and I, we just need to not rush the racking of the bar. Because this weight is nothing. Take the half second to adjust and just stand up." And, look at that. I took his advice and nailed it lol. I said to him, "Your turn to take your own advice." He did his lift and also nailed it. We were at the end of our session. It was hot. Humid. And, we were all getting tired. But, why not try to go another 5lbs heavier and see if I can do 140lbs? Go to failure. Make sure you can't hit the weight. So, I tried. I failed twice. I almost got it. It was catching the weight that was getting me. I have this fear of breaking my fingers lol. All in all, a 10 pound increase in my PR is still something to be proud of. I'm still the strongest woman in the gym in terms of weightlifting numbers. Only Juliana is close. She made 130lbs today. She's built like me in height and form. She just has a better body composition. But, I'm getting there. I've taken it easy the last month on my food. Seeing where my weight settles. Net loss even with the massive muscle increase is 10lbs down. The next 10, which I already hit once this year, will not being during an extended caloric restriction period. It's going to be the usual quick drop from the month of low-carb/high-carb cycle. I'll go down the 10lbs. I'll settle again. Then, I'll probably really just be done. My body likes to stay at the next weight point. It does not enjoy going lower. It gets super difficult. So, we'll call it a win, and go from there.

Battlefield 6 appears to be set in 2042 and will adopt this title. Images certainly reflect a more futuristic setting. Beta this month Anyone remember Battlefield 2142 back in the day?

I just checked, I have 8.5 hours played total 🤣 so think I need to get on and have some practise before being the lamb to the slaughter of La and/or Carl.

I totally believe the middle platform is far superior and safer than the strat behind the portals. I've noticed over the past 2 days that you more open to be blown up by supplicants and harpys, alongside getting ground slammed backwards into the portal and then all co-ordination is gone. Yes, you can die from not jumping into the middle correctly but i'd take that over so many other things going wrong near the portal. I'm also open to wanting to try a Merciless run at some point. I think 5 Merciless fusions alongside a Divinity would be wreck Atheon to shreds.

Ooooooohhhhh... @TurboR56Mini is pretty cut throat in Civ. I seem to have curved away from my days of amassing a giant air force to erase cities from the earth lol. Not that I won't if I'm provoked... it's just not my first thought anymore lol.

Honestly, the far-near call out works best IMO. There’s a nice spot to stand on the back wall where you can see all of them perfectly.

Aww. 🥰😘🤪

Love this idea! I haven’t played anything like this in years but think it would be a great change to our normal FPS/driving games we play. I’ll look into buying it over the weekend and will try and learn how to do everything haha

All the rest of my stuff is black so it now it doesn't stand out. Unlike all of my cables.

Do both, Civ 5 is a great game. An FG Civ 5 multiplay would be fun. I'm liking the look of Humankind. I'm definitely looking at picking this up in August

No Fuji or Autopolis??? im disappointed @phil bottle.... 😡

It's just a case of switching something on and then monitoring performance in game. Just make sure you have the latest version installed 😉

And people moan about the loading times on modern games 🤣

Agreed. I mean, I didn't want to pick up the Relic when I got teleported, but I had to. I didn't want to shoot Oracles during the Templar phase, and I cried about it a little. But, I did. I'm fine with sitting on the platform when told what planet/area the other team is on. Just... calling out what I see in the proper order? Lol. Again, not even @TurboR56Mini trusts my spatial awareness IRL. "Why did you think all of that stuff would fit in that jar?" ... "At least pour it over the sink instead of spilling it everywhere" ... "Why do you insist on parking crooked in the driveway?" 🤣 "No... that is absolutely not the center... and that's not half." Yet, I'm perfectly fine with punching dead center on someone's sternum if needed. Figure that out. I know my weaknesses. But I'll take calling out oracles before shooting them... until we get crossplay for raids. (I had a fantastic time on the PC version yesterday with @TurboR56Mini and @Tar-Eruntalion ... my ability to just swap guns super quickly... aim without downsights... basically nail precision shots without depending on a bow and using almost any gun for them... :: sigh :: keyboard/mouse is just my speed, I guess). I wonder if it's easier to see what's near/far for Oracles if it's on PC. But, yes... absolute quiet and calmness during Atheon is almost a requirement.

I thought the reveal was fantastic. Even the countdown to it. I found myself turning around from my computer to just look at the TV. The thought behind just the countdown to the event shows that Guerrilla is in this 1000% percent. They've done their pivot from the Killzone game series to this incredible piece. Each scene shown in the countdown was well thought out. It showed different times of the day. I haven't even dared to look at fan theories about what all the numbers at the bottom of each "camera" was in connection to what Guerrilla was posting on social media about each scene (Tenakth clan villages). Then, when it was time for the reveal, the switch from the cinematic parts to the gameplay was so smooth. They did not show too much about the gameplay menu, so either it was purposely not shown, or it's an option to only see certain things like health, inventory, etc. when touching the touchpad, or you choose to have it on/off completely. They showed the new tools they are giving Aloy. The glider, which would have saved my ass many times from when I fell off high places; the breathing apparatus to allow Aloy to swim underwater for an unlimited amount of time; these were the most memorable for me. It looks like they listened to some quality-of-life comments from players of the first game. If you recall in the first game, you knew where you could "climb" if the item/edge/ledge was bright yellow. However, sometimes, this was not entirely clear given how the light in the game was. There was a time I was in a building for a solid 30 minutes because I didn't know how to climb up to a certain area. Frustrating but still satisfying to me. Now, they are allowing Aloy's Focus (earpiece) to highlight what's climbable. This is super helpful. The new weapons are going to be exciting to unlock and use. More types of arrows. For my type of gameplay, it absolutely works. I'm a "shoot from a distance" player. This is why I'm always a mage or a warlock or anything with long distance in games. They did not forget those who are more aggressive. They showed more moves with the spear, and you can now pick up dropped weapons from enemies and use it. I think that type of immersive world factor is something to be applauded, and I hope more of that is to be seen in other games. Towards the end of the gameplay, the artifact that was found displayed a map. I'm highly curious on what that means. There are two dots in the Gulf of Mexico, but this game takes place on the west coast of the US. Is this a bit of foreshadowing on the next game? I don't know. But, I'm excited. We can get into the "headlines" of this game being about how Aloy looks, and I will tell you that I did not notice much of anything except that everything was rendered beautifully. I can go in-depth on my simmering anger about toxic guys being all "Aloy doesn't look like eye candy"... meanwhile, no one is talking about how Eren isn't a visual catch... but he's a guy, so he gets a pass. I could, and I happily will if someone wants to go there. But, all in all, the game looks amazing. I think @Bluebear is just as excited as I am about it. On the side, I'm hoping that Horizon Zero Dawn and God of War are not Sony's swan songs to actually supporting indie studios and games that need support to be something great. God of War is only great now, it was not a great initial game. Guerrilla's Killzone games were not anything to sing about, but they now have Horizon. Let's hope that Sony has not completely lost their way.. and if their current thinking is just a misstep, let's hope they find their way back.

And now I kind of want to get it, but will resist until sale season 😉

Old stories get re-invented for modern audiences all the time, get a grip lads 😅