jordie1892

We have 12 players now, which is perfect to get started.  We can still fit in a couple more should anyone want to join, but I'll be cutting it off entries this weekend and releasing the placement fixtures.
 
My goal for this was for the games to take us right up to the Euros. I want to get peoples opinions on whether we play one game per week , or two per week with a home and away fixture? It's really down to how busy everyone is!

Sounds good, put me down for that dude 👍

Get me on it dude!

Its obvious what my answer is @jordie1892  😎 Looking forward to the fun in store!

Another reason why I think COD will never return to its glory days is down to how the gaming landscape has changed. The golden era of COD around MW2 and BO1 was when deathmatch was still very popular and level progression was a big aspect of people's ongoing enjoyment. Someone going 30-4 was a great gameplay for a YouTube video and there were no competitive stresses. I bet veteran arena shooter players of the millennium days did not like this type of game or its format the same way many don't like COD in its current state.
 
Nowadays, getting 30 kills is nothing and gameplay commentaries, unless they are giving tips on cheesing or OP weapons, are largely redundant. Someone even getting a double nuke barely gets any attention these days or going 100-0 whilst using knife only. Even the new nuke world record set the other day (72 seconds) didn't bat an eyelid in the community. Sadly it's all about skin culture today and looking good in-game. The e-Sport mentality is being injected into g-fulled players with a rapid meta in terms of mechanics and competitive matchmaking. You can be playing casually yet onscreen it looks like you are sweating it like crazy. Prestige also means little now - a few years ago, players were reaching Prestige 10 level 1000 just after Christmas when even I would struggle to reach just the max prestige over the duration of a year.
 
Although I can still comfortably hold my own even in the most sweatiest SBMM riddled matches, I think a lot of the fun has been sucked out of the experience because of the way people have been conditioned to play and how the game is designed. It's more mentally exhausting than fun at times. 
 
One other factor which has diminished the fun of the COD titles pretty much the whole of the last gen was disappointing kill/scorestreaks. I can barely name any after Black Ops 2 they were that forgettable.  Even ones that returned to the series just didn't have the presence, enjoyement or sheer power like they did in older titles. I really don't know how they got this so wrong and why they haven't bounced back. Could be that it's just another tiring aspect but certainly they sucked from Ghosts onward. 

OOOO cars!!! I'm 36 have have had 40 vehicles thus far, current stable is the mentioned '05 R53 Mini JCW, my '68 Pontiac LeMans, and our '58 Chevy Apache. 

Currently have a GT86. Definitely my dumbest purchase, but that's what your mid 20's are for... right?
 
 
 
 

EPISODE 9 SPOILERS BELOW
 
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Well the journey is over. After episode 8 I realised it wouldn't be as crazy as most originally though it would with Mephisto / Nightmare / Xmen etc etc, that is why I backtracked in the previous review and I was mostly correct, except for Ultron.
 
I enjoyed the episode though and it was a satisfying conclusion to Wanda story of trauma with Vision and her past. I enjoyed the fight scenes for the most part, well made and cool looking. Also the shot of her becoming the full Scarlett Witch with the outfit was amazing. Also she looks 11/10 hot in that outfit, jesus.
 
I think quite a few people will be disappointed there wasn't any huge cameos and things, also the part with Pietro was a huge cop-out, I am still not sure whether I like that. It seems that the X-Men may not be brought into the MCU at least using Wanda after all. This is not the worst plot point though. For me the poorest part of the episode, and for most of the series is Haywood. He has just ended up being generic bad military guy, which is completely underwhelming and just down right boring. I mean he starts shooting the kids at the end for seemingly no reason. I gave him the benefit of the doubt for most of the series to see where it was going, but now I realise it was just downright bad.
 
I thought Agatha was great again, although I thought her motivations were a bit odd. I mean she wants her power but also understands how dangerous it is, surely its more dangerous trying to siphon it out of Wanda? I mean she doesn't know how to control it either, but anyway she did well. I am glad she didn't die. She had a throwaway line at the end after Wanda changed her. Wanda says, 'If I need you i'll come see you' then she says 'Not if I see you first' which I think will be a nod to her returning. 
 
White White vs Vision, again pretty cool fight. Ended quite abruptly though, and we seemingly get the original Vision back at the end who just flys off? Kind of weird you'd think if he had his original memories he would stay and help? The ending between her and Vision I thought was well done and quite sad. 
 
Mid credits scene I thought was relatively boring, I mean it was obvious Monica knew the skrulls as she met them in Captain Marvel. This is just a generic set up for Captain Marvel 2. The post credits scene however I thought was very cool, and I think this is the main setup for Dr Strange 2. Her reading that book in astral form with the Dr Strange music playing was sweet. You can hear her kids voices as well, I assume she will bring them back, but by doing so has some kind of 'deal with devil' and ends up unleashing Nightmare. Also she can control her human form and astral form we haven't even see Strange do that, he's always passed out or asleep when in astral form.
 
All in all I thought the series was very good, probably overhyped by people going way too far with their theories and what they expected to happen. It ended up being a much more grounded story about Wanda's past trauma and her dealing with it through creating the hex. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I watched it all in one go though. If it was all released in one go, people wouldn't scrutinise every single part of every episode for a week afterwards. Instead they'd watch it all in one go and enjoy it for what it was, not what it wasn't, which I was guilty of to begin with as well.
 
Regarding Pietro. I think him being revealed as a nobody is actuals Marvels way of showing people, look we cast him, made him a nobody, to show people that the Fox X-Men universe is dead, and they won't be using any characters from it. Casting Evan Peters means casting the rest which they won't do. Marvel will reboot X-Men fully and properly and build it up just like they did with The Avengers. I doubt we will see any of them for 5-6 years.
 
I think a lot of the Nightmare/Mephisto stuff will happen, just not until Dr Strange 2. As a standalone show I thought it was great, I am glad they didn't overstuff it with cameos and things. What lets it down slightly is the Pietro mislead and also Haywood. I would give it a 10/10 if i wasn't for that, but my overall would be a 9/10.

With WandaVision wrapping up, I thought I'd do a thread about all the upcoming Marvel films and TV shows ('phase 4' and beyond) which I will try and keep as up to date as possible subject to updates from Disney. If you haven't already seen, over the next few years they have a huge array of projects in the works. Below I will list these in order with titles, brief descriptions, release dates if they have any, and my general thoughts on each one. Let me know below what your thoughts are and what you think you're looking forward to the most. I won’t be putting any comic book spoilers in for any of the stories, just potential vague potential plot points and references.
 
 
 
WandaVision - 15 Jan 2021
 
TV Show - Currently about to wrap up with the finale tomorrow. Basic plot follows Wanda Maximoff dealing with the death of Vision at the end of Infinity War, as well as dealing with other past traumas. It is hard to say much of the plot without spoilers for those that haven't seen it (there is a separate thread for spoilers), but safe to say I think its a great 'experiment' by Disney, the writing and attention to detail is exceptional, and the acting by the 2 leads is second to none.
 
 
Falcon and The Winter Soldier - 19 March 2021
 
TV Show - The next part of Disneys foray into MCU TV. Look like a much more basic, simpler, action-focused show based around Falcon and The Winter Soldier seemingly trying to take down Zemo (who is back from Civil War), as well as the government itself in the form of USAgent, a government controlled version of Captain America (played by Wyatt Russell). The show will revolve around Sams decision to take the shield given to him by Steve Rogers. I am not as hyped for this as I was WandaVision and Loki, as I am enjoying the more experimental, comic-booky craziness they are going for in the future, but I still think it will be a very good MCU action show if nothing else, with a little 'buddy-cop' vibe between the main protagonists. There are currently 2 trailers for this.
 
 
Black Widow - 7 May 2021
 
Film - As most are aware this should have been released in May 2020, but for obvious reasons has been delayed. I am still skeptical whether this will actually release in May, and whether it will be on Disney plus or not. The film will be set between Infinity War and Endgame, following Natasha confronting her past, as well as revealing where / how she was trained, and meeting her 'family' a group of operatives who were all put together by the KGB as spies. The film includes another main Black Widow, The Red Guardian (Russians version of Captain America) and the main villain is Taskmaster. One of the cooler Marvel villains who can instantly mimic fighting styles of anyone he sees. I also think along with Scarlett Johanssons swan song as Black Widow, it will also be pseudo-origins story for the new Black Widow played by Florence Pugh. There are a few trailers for this already.
 
 
Loki - 11 June 2021
 
TV Show - Out of all the shows coming this year, I am most hyped for this. Seemingly a story about the alternate Endgame version of Loki who stole the tesseract back in the alternate timeline. He gets captured by the TVA (Time Variance Authority) and is tasked with stopping other versions of himself causing havoc. Tom Hiddleston has always been great so it'll be great to see him back in action. Also this will go into more multiverse off the back of WandaVision, and may link to Dr Strange 2. There are already 2 trailers for this so check them out if you haven't!
 
 
What If...? - Summer 2021
 
TV Show - Probably the most 'out-there' show they are doing, and also potentially has no connection to the main MCU itself, but is still on the list of projects. What If is a series of un-connected episodes showing scenarios we have already seen in the MCU, but twisted in a different way aka 'What if this happened instead'. Examples are What If T'Challa was taken by Yondu instead of Peter Quill, What If Peggie became Captain Britain instead of Steve Rogers, a What If Marvel Zombies storyline, as well as others. Some are original stories and some are adapted from one-off comics. These will all be animated and there is a trailer already on youtube.
 
 
Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings - 9 July 2021
 
Film - Technically the first ‘new’ film progressing the MCU forward in Phase 4. This will follow Shang-Chi, a skilled martial artist and will be the first Asian Marvel lead to date. An interesting character to do, as his origins and comics usually tie in with the Mandarin. We saw a version of him already in Iron Man 3, it will be interesting to see if they retcon it completely or try and fit it in somewhat with this storyline. The Mandarin uses the ‘ten rings’ as rings that have different powers. I think these were originally not used in Iron Man due to their similarity to the Infinity Stones. There should be a trailer for this very soon.
 
 
Ms. Marvel - Late 2021
 
TV Show - The show will be an origins story for Kamala Khan aka Ms Marvel, being the second main Asian comic book character on film, and first Muslim. The plot will follow her getting her powers (she is super stretchy), and probably the origins of her name. In the comics she idolises Captain Marvel so models herself after her. I actually think this may link to Falcon. Her powers come from these weird 'terrigenesis' crystals that create Inhumans. The Falcon plot has potential that they are trying to find these or at least they come across them at some point. If you have watched Agents of Shield, the crystals made an appearance there. 
 
 
Hawkeye - Late 2021
 
TV Show - New series starring Clint Barton aka Hawkeye, exploring his past as well as going back to the time he spent as ‘Ronin’ after the Infinity War snap took his family. It will also show his struggles with hearing loss and training the new Hawkeye, Kate Bishop. It will follow a comic series by Matt Fraction called ‘Hawkeye’ which is apparently one of the best one-off comic series ever written for Marvel.
 
 
Eternals - 5 November 2021
 
Film - The third film of the year will feature an array of high profile names such as Angelina Jolie, Kit Harrington, Richard Madden and others. It follows the ‘Eternals’ a race of super-powerful beings that existed on earth thousands of years before humans and also were around at the same time. Not much is known of the plot, but speculation is it will look at how they helped shape mankind as they are now, and I think will potentially play into how some of the things in the modern day MCU came about, such as magic, mutants or inhumans. It is also rumoured we may see a young Thanos and pseudo-origins story for him.
 
 
Spider-Man No Way Home - 17 December 2021
 
Film - The title was recently revealed as ‘No Way Home’ There has been lots of speculation that this will go down the Spider-Verse route, and feature Andrew Garfields and Toby Maguire Spider-Men in some capacity. My hope is, however, if they are in it, it is only a brief cameo as this should still be a full Tom Holland Spidey story. I think the ‘No Way Home’ aspect will be him getting stuck in another reality, potentially Sonys Venom-verse as a way of getting the characters together.
 
 
Moon Knight - 2022
 
TV Show - This one I think I am looking forward to maybe more than the other shows in 2022. Moon Knight is sometimes dubbed Marvels answer to Batman, although much lesser known. Similar in that he is wealthy, and in most incarnations has now powers like Batman. The main difference is that his origins are interesting. Potentially visited by an Egyptian God which tells him what to do after an accident. It is unclear though whether his mental state is like, sometimes having split personality in the comics. Could be a good show that deals with a superhero that has a genuine mental illness. Ethan Hawke has signed on as the villain.
 
 
She-Hulk - 2022
 
TV Show - Tatiana Maslany has signed on to play the Jennifer Walters version of She-Hulk, a lawyer specialising in superhuman related legal cases. Her cousin is Bruce Banner, of which Mark Ruffalo has also been cast in the show. I assume, like the comics, she gets her powers through a blood transfusion from him. She is permanently big and green but no where near as physically strong as the hulk, but still very strong. I will assume that this may play into getting Spider-Man out of some predicament in court, perhaps to do with Mysterio. Potentially she may also cross paths with Daredevil from the Netflix Marvel shows, as they now own the character again.
 
 
Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness - 25 March 2022
 
Film - Probably, for me, the biggest film they have coming out, and potentially the one with the biggest consequences for the MCU as whole. It is likely this will be a direct sequel to WandaVision, and maybe also Spider-Man 3. The rumoured villain is Nightmare and / or Mephisto, although more likely a character which is both combined. Scarlett Witch will also be in the film. There is potential for huge multiverse crossovers, alternate characters, weird dimensional beings, the list goes on.
 
 
Thor: Love and Thunder - 6 May 2022
 
Film - The next instalment in the Thor franchise, thankfully being directed by Thor Ragnaroks Taika Waititi, who basically turned the character from mediocre and boring to someone people love. The story will include Gorr the God Butcher, a strange alien character who basically goes round killing god-like characters, played by Christian Bale. The Guardians of the Galaxy will also play a small role, and also Natalie Portman will be returning and playing a female version of Thor. It will be interesting to see how they write this in, and whether this will be an ending to Hemsworths character, or they will both exist going forward? Time will tell.
 
 
The Guardians of The Galaxy Holiday Special - Late 2022
 
TV Show - A one off special riffing the Star Wars holiday special from the 80s, which was basically a single one off Star Wars show that was god awful. I think this will be basically a one off jokey comedy kind of show that won’t have any real consequence for the MCU. James Gunn the Guardians director made a music video to go with Guardians 2 which is worth watching, so it makes sense he is making something like this.
 
 
Black panther II - 8 July 2022
 
Film - Its a shame we lost Chadwick Boseman too soon, as he would have been heading another the second film in the franchise. Disney have said they will not recast him, so they will have to use an existing MCU character to replace him. The likely candidates are Shuri or Killmonger. Plot details are thin but due to a small reference in Endgame to an earthquake, this was an event that preceded Namor attacking Wakanda, so he has the potential to be the villain. He is basically Marvels version of Aquaman.
 
 
Captain Marvel 2 - 11 November 2022
 
Film - She was never my favourite character from the start, due to bad interview appearances and just being a bland character overall. I hope she improves going forward. No plot details but rumoured that they are casting someone to play Blue Marvel, again with similar powers to her and Photon, who will almost certainly also be in the film.
 
 
Ant Man and The Wasp: Quantumania: 2022
 
Film - The third film in the Ant Man franchise will see him and The Wasp teaming up again and it looks like they will be spending a large majority of the film in the quantum realm. It is likely this film will also have big consequences for the MCU, as they have said that Kang The Conqueror will make his debut in the film. A huge Avengers and Fantastic 4 villain that uses time travel and time manipulation. It is almost 100% likely he will be around for many years in the MCU. ‘If you mess with time it tends to mess back’ - Tony Stark.
 
 
Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 3 - 2023
 
Film - It looks like this will continue after whatever adventures they have in Thor 4, with Thor potentially joining them in Guardians 3. Plot details are scarce, but it is likely the film will be introducing Adam Warlock, after being teased in the after credits of Guardians 2. They will also be exploring Rockets origins. One thing James Gunn has confirmed, however, is that this will mark the end of this current iteration of the team.
 
 
Fantastic Four - TBA
 
Film - Currently on the list but has no date. Fantastic Four will be rebooted again for the MCU, hopefully done much better than the previous versions. I think they need to shy away from the origins and get straight into it like they did with Spiderman Homecoming. 
 
 
Secret Invasion - TBA
 
TV Show - Secret Invasion will be all about the skulls, and them secretly invading earth for a number of years, becoming high ranking members of society, and even becoming superheroes. It will be interesting to see who will end up being a skull the whole time if anyone was? I guess the story will focus on the hero’s trying to work out who the skulls were and removing them one by one.
 
 
Ironheart - TBA
 
TV Show - An actress called Dominique Thorne has been cast as Iron Mans spiritual successor, Ironheart. In the comics she is a super genius just like Tony, and ends up designing her own suits. It will be interesting to see whether this character has anything to do with his empire going forward.
 
 
Armor Wars - TBA
 
TV Show - I assume this show will tie directly into the events of Ironheart. It is currently unclear which way round the shows will air. This will be all about the struggle between powers to get their hands on Tonys arc reactor and suit tech. Don Cheadle has been confirmed to return as War Machine. It is likely that Normon Osbourne will make an appearance in Spider-Man, and eventually be involved with armor wars and secret invasion.
 

For me, mirroring what other have said, simplicity is key. I don't care about tonnes of weapon customization, definitely don't want wall running and all that. Just a clean, simple game as we saw from CoD4 through to the Black Ops days.
 
In terms of matchmaking, SBMM has really ruined the multiplayer experience for me. I feel like as with other multiplayer games there should just be both a ranked and unranked playlist to let players decide which they want. At the very least, if SBMM is necessary, there could be better transparency so you have some way of indicating how good you actually are at the game! I don't see the point in multiplayer as is, I need a goal to work towards whilst playing!
 
I've really enjoyed Warzone over lockdown, but again would love a barebones version without loadouts, having to rely on finding weapons/attachments etc.
 

I think the idea of a big and small partnerships is good, as long as everyone is comfortable with their players. Would be sick if you could share some of your builds, and perhaps a bit on how to cover passing lanes, since I always seem to play worse the bigger my player is!
 
The reason I disagree with LM/RM positions, is because most of the attribute increases come in the form of defensive stats (which are still too low to be an effective defender), with the crossing and long passing being the main advantage. Being a winger gets you +4 acceleration and agility, and +3 balance and sprint speed, plus some minor boosts to dribbling and a few other stats. Just doesn't seem like a worthwhile trade off to me.

For me, mirroring what other have said, simplicity is key. I don't care about tonnes of weapon customization, definitely don't want wall running and all that. Just a clean, simple game as we saw from CoD4 through to the Black Ops days.
 
In terms of matchmaking, SBMM has really ruined the multiplayer experience for me. I feel like as with other multiplayer games there should just be both a ranked and unranked playlist to let players decide which they want. At the very least, if SBMM is necessary, there could be better transparency so you have some way of indicating how good you actually are at the game! I don't see the point in multiplayer as is, I need a goal to work towards whilst playing!
 
I've really enjoyed Warzone over lockdown, but again would love a barebones version without loadouts, having to rely on finding weapons/attachments etc.
 

For me, mirroring what other have said, simplicity is key. I don't care about tonnes of weapon customization, definitely don't want wall running and all that. Just a clean, simple game as we saw from CoD4 through to the Black Ops days.
 
In terms of matchmaking, SBMM has really ruined the multiplayer experience for me. I feel like as with other multiplayer games there should just be both a ranked and unranked playlist to let players decide which they want. At the very least, if SBMM is necessary, there could be better transparency so you have some way of indicating how good you actually are at the game! I don't see the point in multiplayer as is, I need a goal to work towards whilst playing!
 
I've really enjoyed Warzone over lockdown, but again would love a barebones version without loadouts, having to rely on finding weapons/attachments etc.
 

Count me in as well 👍

I'm obsessed with these 4k walking videos. There's a lot of good Tokyo ones!

I'm obsessed with these 4k walking videos. There's a lot of good Tokyo ones!

I’m in lad nice one 

Sounds sweet pal 👌

Sounds good I'm in

Sounds fun, mark me down

Count me in! 

Oh I'm in ❤

Hi All,
 
With the Euros approaching in the summer, I figured we could hold our own set of international matches for the build up!
 
I'm setting up a FIFA league, made up from teams participating in the Euros. I'll organize the fixtures (aiming for 1 or 2 a week if you can give me your thoughts), and keep an updated table.
 
Obviously this is all for fun, but in order to keep everything fair I will be randomly generating fixtures for 3 placement matches. Based on the results (which I will ask you to send me privately) you will randomly be selected a team from one of the below tiers, with the better players being given more difficult teams. Again this is for fun, so I'm trusting everyone to try their best in these placement matches! There are a few teams left over, so in the event any more people want to join, we can do a reshuffle here.
 
Tier 1
France, Germany, England, Portugal
 
Tier 2
Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain
 
Tier 3
Switzerland, Denmark, Austria, Poland
 
Tier 4
Scotland, Turkey, Sweden, Russia
 
 
There will be a custom FG FIFA trophy to play for, so it's all on the line!
 
To get things going, can you please respond to this topic if you want to participate, I'm aiming to release the fixtures for the placement matches next weekend!
 
 
 
 
 

Hi All,
 
With the Euros approaching in the summer, I figured we could hold our own set of international matches for the build up!
 
I'm setting up a FIFA league, made up from teams participating in the Euros. I'll organize the fixtures (aiming for 1 or 2 a week if you can give me your thoughts), and keep an updated table.
 
Obviously this is all for fun, but in order to keep everything fair I will be randomly generating fixtures for 3 placement matches. Based on the results (which I will ask you to send me privately) you will randomly be selected a team from one of the below tiers, with the better players being given more difficult teams. Again this is for fun, so I'm trusting everyone to try their best in these placement matches! There are a few teams left over, so in the event any more people want to join, we can do a reshuffle here.
 
Tier 1
France, Germany, England, Portugal
 
Tier 2
Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain
 
Tier 3
Switzerland, Denmark, Austria, Poland
 
Tier 4
Scotland, Turkey, Sweden, Russia
 
 
There will be a custom FG FIFA trophy to play for, so it's all on the line!
 
To get things going, can you please respond to this topic if you want to participate, I'm aiming to release the fixtures for the placement matches next weekend!