We are all Shadow of War now. This week's discussion focuses a LOT on Middle-earth: Shadow of War, as we dig into the loot box controversy and a land of procedurally generated orcs. Plus, Jessica continues the streak of finished games!

Mark brings Starfinder to the table, Jessica miraculously manages to finish not one but two games, and both talk about... just liking things.

It is our Destiny to talk to Ashe Yee this week! We talk about Destiny 2 and it's new gun perk system and how Borderlands could be made even more compelling. It's a bit of a slower one this week, folks. We're very tired.

Mark and Jessica talk good protagonists and antagonists, bad boss fights, plus Mark returns to Space Pirates and Zombies and Jessica delves into Dishonored!

Jessica and Mark talk about Blizzard and Overwatch's mishandling of community toxicity, and how Dying Light intelligently handles drop-in drop-out co-op, Destiny 2 lore, and much more!

Jessica sinks into Destiny 2 and Mark continues a war against the chosen, plus we talk about the future of narrative in video games, emergent storytelling systems, and goofy stuff we found in zombie games.

Jessica takes a back seat as Mark reveals his martial arts secrets and gushes about XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, and both discuss cultural appropriation in Absolver, Magic: The Gathering, and beyond. Plus, a breakdown on what makes PUBG interesting.

Mark and Jessica strap knives to other knives while playing Dying Light, go deeper into Dungeons and Dragons, and talk about what's changing in Monster Hunter World!

Jessica and Mark are joined by Ashe, who returns to talk about tactical tension in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and difficulties with Overwatch.

Links we talked about: 

• Māori Mod for Civilization VI: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1109800600
• Gamer Finally Prepared To Remember Who Sean Murray Is, Then Forgive Him: http://www.pointandclickbait.com/2017/08/no-forgiveness-man/

Thank you to Leon for the use of our theme song, Honey Milk Island. Download it for free and check out Leon's music on Soundcloud.

Thank you to our Patrons for their support of the show! Find out more about becoming a Patron at http://bit.ly/pausecast.

Send emails to the inbox at [email protected].

Find PauseCast elsewhere online:

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In a shocking twist and turn in events, Mark both isn't reading a book, and is playing more than one game! Jessica continues to play a handful of games, and Mark finds himself with Conviction of the Splinter Cell variety.

Thank you to Leon for the use of our theme song, Honey Milk Island. Find Leon's music and download it at http://soundcloud.com/leyawn.

Thank you to our Patrons for their support of the show! Find out more about becoming a Patron at http://bit.ly/pausecast.

Send emails to the inbox at [email protected].

Find PauseCast elsewhere online:

• Facebook: http://facebook.com/pausecastshow
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/pausecastshow
• Tumblr: http://pausecastshow.tumblr.com
• iTunes: http://bit.ly/pausecast-itunes