Sometimes a show happens without us really realizing it.  That was absolutely the case for this evening's show because we had what felt like a very limited number of topics that filled up the full hour.  We start off the show with some further discussion of Genshin Impact.  Last week we thought we had been pushed up against a wall, but it turns out that was just the foothills leading up to the sheer cliff that is being resin locked on progress.  From there we talk about random video game cravings and the games that we either return to periodically or consider comfort gaming.  We wrap things up with a discussion of the games that we are looking forward to on the horizon be it literally like with Horizon Zero Dawn Forbidden West or the release of the new console generation.  Whatever the case it seems like we have a very packed November ahead of us.

Topics Discussed

• Genshin Impact
• • The limiting factors of Resin
  • Limited Progress
• Random Game Cravings
• • We talk about comfort gaming
  • We also talk about out of the blue game cravings
• What we are looking forward to next
• • Release of the next generation of consoles
  • Horizon Zero Dawn 2
  • The Packed November

Earlier this afternoon a large chunk of the AggroChat crew spent a few hours playing Among Us, a two year old game that is now suddenly the most popular thing on the planet.  So of course we lead off the show talking a bit about that experience and how we are making tentative plans to do this as a regular thing.  Maybe at some point we should even offer it up as a stream.  From there Bel talks about a bumped topic from last week and the delay of the World of Warcraft Shadowlands expansion to an undetermined time in the future.  The pre-patch starts this coming week which means the expansion likely lands in November.  However we discuss some of the core problems this expansion cycle has had and the frustrations the players have brought up.  This leads to a further discussion of Genshin Impact and how much Bel has been playing it.  This time Thalen also was able to chime in as he recently started and had some general thoughts to share.  Finally we wrap things up with a discussion about how Games Workshop once again should really stop being afraid of the internet and how their actions are just going to lead folks to pirate copies of their products.

Topics Discussed

• Among Us
• • Playing with AggroChat and Friends
  • Repeat Impostor Problem
• Shadowlands Delay
• • Problems with Expansion
  • Problems with BFA
  • Problems with MMORPGs in General
• Genshin Impact
• • Bel Plays a Nonsense Amount
  • Thalen has thoughts from playing
  • Switch Version needs to Hurry
• Games Workshop Fears Internet
• • Removing Digital Copies of Books
  • • Will Lead to Pirate PDF copies
    • 3D Printing Models
  • Ways that Corvis Belli does this better

Tonight we have an extra long show, because we tried to limit it down to three topics…  but still had too much to say to fit within the normal allotted hour.  This week we also have bonus friend Nephsys as we talk about Genshin Impact and how it came seemingly out of nowhere and conquered many of our lives.  From there we talk about Star Wars Squadrons and how it seems to be the Star Wars Starfighter game that Tam had been waiting for.  Finally we wrap up with some more discussion of Hades as many escape attempts have been made.  This time around we talk about more specific strategy and player experiences.

Topics Discussed:

• The Importance of Inverted Y
• Genshin Impact
• • How is this game this good?
• Star Wars Squadrons
• • Tam gets his Star Wars Flight Sim on
  • Not Arcade Enough for Bel
• Hades
• • Many Escapes This Week
  • The marvels of Design

Tonight we have a show that basically is Bel carpet bombing the trello with current events topics.  First up we talk about the acquisition of Zenimax by Microsoft and our thoughts about that.  From there we discuss the wildly tinfoil hat theory that Microsoft is going to acquire Sega next.  We also talk about how poorly the Xbox One performed in Japan and how it seems Microsoft is attempting to fix that with their TGS 2020 showing.  Kodra talks about playing Pokken with his son and how it is a fighting game that allows you to look awesome without frustrations.  We end up spinning off a side discussion about Fighting games in general and how they expect you to learn the characters.  Ashgar talks about Monster Hunter Rise and how the main line Monster Hunter series seems to be borrowing heavily from Monster Hunter World…  also Doggos.  Finally we talk briefly about the flaws in the RTX 3080 design, at least in some of the add-in board partner cards attempts to save money.

Topics Discussed:

• Microsoft Acquisition of Zenimax
• • Rumors of a Sega Acquisition
  • Xbox Series Sold Out in Japan
  • TGS 2020 Microsoft Show
• Dreamhaven founded by Mike Morhaime
• • Spotty track record of Blizzard Spinoffs
  • Irvine Area Studios
• Pokken with your child
• • Fighting games are bad at teaching fighting games
  • Fighting game story modes
• Zendikar Rising Commander
• • Extreme Value but likely not a permanent change
• Monster Hunter Rise Announcement
• • Hunting with Doggos
• Flaws in the RTX 3080 third party cards
• • Why we should maybe wait a bit

Ring Fit Adventure released just shy of a year ago at this point, and it is only now finally reliably available in stores.  As a result of several of us finally getting our hands on it we talk a little bit about the experience of using it.  From there we talk about the PS5 Price Reveal and pre-order debacle.  This moves into discussing the RTX 3080 launch as well and the application of bots from Bounce Alerts snagging most of the stock in both cases.  Hades from Supergiant games has finally officially released and and we talking about the game that was described by Tam as an “Escape Room”.  From there Tam talks about finding gold in the Steam suggestion queue in Swords n Magic n Stuff.  Finally we talk a bit more about Final Fantasy XVI and speculate on when we might actually get to see it.

Topics Discussed:

• Ring Fit Adventure
• • Tricking us into exercise
• The PlayStation 5 Price Reveal
• • Pre-Order Debacle
  • RTX 3080 Pre-Order Debacle
  • Bounce Alerts Bots
  • Trolling Ebay Flippers
• Hades
• • Rogue-Lite Games
• Swords ‘n Magic and Stuff
• • Bad Name, Solid Game
  • Bel Want’s Minecraft Meets Sims
• Final Fantasy XVI
• • Similarities to Vagrant Story
  • Return to Fantasy

Tonight we had some technical difficulties and as a result got to a bit of a late start…  which caused us to lose track of the timing.  As a result we recorded a pretty long show, but I think it was one of our better discussions.  We start with Kodra explaining why he is the fiercest four year old you know and talking about Crusader Kings III some more.  From there Bel talks about effectively being done with Avengers and why it has driven him to deep dive into the Ms Marvel comic series.  From there we discuss the Sportscardification of Magic the Gathering and the crashes of Comic Books and Sports Cards and why it feels real similar to the state of premium collector focused products.  Thalen talks about breaking down ships for fun and profit in Hardspace: Shipbreaker.  We talk about when Quick Time Events feel good rather than something to be avoided, and then dive into the cognitive overhead of trying to return to a game after a long absence.  Finally we talk about the Games as a Subscription model and how it may or may not change the game industry.  Specifically we talk about the dueling business models of the Xbox Series S/X and the PlayStation 5.

Topics Discussed

• Crusader Kings III
• • The struggles of succession
• Marvel Avengers
• • Being mentally done with the grind for now
• Marvel Comics Unlimited
• • How Marvel Made me Deep Dive into Ms Marvel
• Hardspace: Shipbreaker
• The good at bad of Quick Time Events
• • God of War
  • Ghost of Tsushima
  • Shinmue
• Returning to Games
• • The struggle of trying to pick something back after leaving for awhile
  • Games left unfinished
  • Reminders in Games
• Games as a Subscription Model
• • Microsoft vs Sony Business Models
  • The overwhelming value to players.
  • What does this do for publishers?

Tonight we start the show off with a bit of a retraction.  Bel has found out that a lot of the weird mouse and camera interactions seem to have been caused by running RTX Voice while playing Avengers.  As a result Bel talks about his experiences playing Avengers and how the story really shines but the gameplay is adequate but not as smooth as it could be.  From there we talk about using things for alternate purposes, primarily how good cosmetic items work for hobbies.  We talk a little bit about the phenomena that is Fall Guys and both how charming it is and how bizarrely it has lit the streaming world on fire.  Finally we wrap up with a long discussion about Crusader Kings III and the story generator that it is.

Topics Discussed:

• Avengers Release is Not Bad
• • Issues with RTX Voice
• Repurposing Items
• • Cosmetic Items for Hobby and Crafting
• Guys Falling
• • Cute Beans Fall Down
  • Streaming Success
• Crusader Kings III
• • Story Generation
  • Cannibalism for Fun and Profit

Tonight we are back after having a week off due to scheduling.  Bel is super excited to talk about Amazon’s New World, which finally leaves NDA.  He goes into a deep dive of his experiences so far with the assorted systems of the game.  From there we have a reasonable segue into a discussion about Guild Wars 2 and getting used to the WvW pvp system.  We also talk a bit about other games like Final Fantasy XIV and how it handles PVP.  We have a random aside where Bel talks about how he tends to avoid using mounts in Open World games, and finally Ash talks about how he has come to peace with the Blue Mage in FFXIV.

Topics Discussed:

• Amazon’s New World
• • Deep Dive into Systems
• Guild Wars 2 WvW System
• • Final Fantasy XIV PVP modes
• Frog Fractions ???
• • When a DLC is a new game
• Bel Ignores Mounts in Open World Games
• • Ghosts of Tsushima
  • Horizon Zero Dawn
• Making Peace with the Blue Mage
• • How Ash Learns to Accept the Systems

Bel spent a few hours playing the Avengers Beta and has some things to say about it.  There are what he feels to be fundamental problems with the game that are not likely fixable before the September 4th launch.  Kodra gives some recommendations for a few Sudoku games that allow you to play some of those interesting edge case games.  We pick up a conversation from last week and talked about Warhammer 40,000 9th Edition and more directly the update cycle for physical games and how it doesn’t exactly work.  Warframe announced a major change at Virtual TennoCon and we talk about the Helminth and how it is going to shake up the meta.  Finally Bel talks quickly about the Tony Hawk Pro Skater Warehouse Demo and how the game feels exceptionally good.

Topics Discussed

• Avengers Beta is Bad
• Good Sudoku and Miracle Sudoku
• Warhammer 40,000 9th Edition
• • The Physical Game Update Cycle
• Warframe Helminth
• • Gotta Collect Em All
• Tony Hawk Pro Skater Warehouse Demo is Good

Due to improper planning and the fact that last week was Belghast’s wedding anniversary so we called it for the evening.  Tonight we are back and with a proper show chock full of goodness.  Actually just prior to the show Tam carpet bombed the trello with like two dozen topics, so we will probably be in business for several weeks.  Kodra participated in the very first GenCon Online and has lots of things to talk about regarding it.  During the middle of this discussion we break into a side tangent about how we feel like Shadowrun would work well using the World of Darkness Storyteller system.  Grace and Bel revisit Horizon Zero Dawn on the PC and talk about how much better the game feels with a mouse and keyboard.  Ash talks about playing Gundam EX vs Maxiboost ON and this leads to a side discussion about Gundam Breaker.  Bel talks about finishing Death Stranding and how emotionally connected he was to the characters in the game.  Finally we dive into a discussion about games and companion apps and how a lot of tabletop gaming and the company fear of the internet shoots them in the foot.

Topics Discussed:

• GenCon Online
• • Shadowrun should be a Storyteller Game
• Horizon Zero Dawn on PC
• • So much better with mouse
• Gundam EX vs Maxiboost ON
• • Gundam Breaker
• Death Stranding
• • Emotional Feels
• Rise of the Companion App
• • Fear of the Internet