June 2022: Switching Addictions

China has been busy. Not only have they been building a new aircraft carrier and rewriting the history of Hong Kong, they are also publicly supporting Russia who are continuing arduous combat against Ukraine while claiming NATO has started World War III.

While nothing much has changed there, regular readers might have noticed the drop off of posting frequency on this blog. I think it's a mix of being tired, lazy, and far too addicted to Warframe which has consumed most of my free time this month. It's even been holding me back from playing a bunch of new games!

Honestly though, it's kinda felt nice not having to post everyday. Maybe I just traded one addiction for another? It does make this "Most Viewed Posts" (of the month) a bit silly though, as its now just the top three out of ten?

Most Viewed Posts:
May 2022: Ukraine Wins (Eurovision)
Return to War(frame)
Batwoman and DC's Legends of Tomorrow

April 2022: Day 65 of the war

Or in Russian, it would be Day 65 of the special operation. There are now laws in which saying what the government doesn't want to hear or agree with a crime worth 15 years in prison. For similar reasons they've sent a wikipedia a hefty fine for spreading misinformation.

After losing a war ship, a few more tanks, being chased by drones, and being poisoned by locals, Russian forces were redeployed from attacking Kyiv to partake in a major offensive at Donbas to the East which includes the long besieged city of Mariupol. They have also started deploying dolphins, because that's apparently a thing that the USA does as well?

That's an artsy destroyed tank turret.

With the supposed default of the Ruble coming soon (speculated May 4th), Vladimir Putin has announced that the Russian lunar program will continue. Perhaps that's an additional reason why Russia is cutting the gas supply to both Poland and Bulgaria. To quote reddit: "Russia can't get enough fuel to drive a few hours to Kiev. Moon is a bit further".

Less people using Russian gas is exactly what the outnumbered Ukraine wants though, who are going hard on their propaganda with an excellent writing team - though sometimes a single picture can be pretty moving too. Support continues to flow for them from overseas, with Britain's Boris Johnson visiting Zelenskyy in Kyiv, USA's Joe Biden labeling Russia's action as genocide, France's Emmanuel Macron boosting weapons supplies for Ukraine after winning a second term of presidency over a pro-Russian opponent, hackers continuing to do their thing against Russia, and chef Jose Andres providing food to those he can reach.

It's also funny that Germany's Green party is saying the German government isn't being aggressive enough arming Ukraine. Again quoted from reddit: "Green party: Fuck it you know what would reduce emissions? BURNING MOSCOW *heavy metal riff*"

While I've been impressed at the use of drones in the theater of war, China is using them a different way - using mounted speakers to instruct the people locked down in Shanghai due to COVID to comply with the restrictions and "control the soul's desire for freedom". Sounds like another step towards a dark cyberpunk future! Actually, how is Hong Kong doing? Oh. Not great.

Most Viewed Posts:
Legends of Andor 2 - Legend 8 - The Storm Begins
In Sound Mind
Cris Tales

Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition

The law is different for undercover cops.

Wei Shen (voiced by Will Yun Lee) is an undercover cop trying to take down a triad in Hong Kong, and to do this he must do criminal acts as a gangster to keep his cover intact while also balancing out doing criminal acts as a cop because... its fun? And that's the important bit: FUN!

The multitude of activities in the open world map of Hong Kong range from the mundane to the hilariously out there. You have street racing, fight clubs, karaoke, chop shop thefts, debt collection, and for collectors lots of lock boxes and shrines to discover and vehicles and clothes to purchase. Yep, different sets of clothes provide different bonuses and I cannot think of another game where I changed attire so frequently. It's so easy to get engrossed in this one, even if Wei tends to inexplicably lose firearms all the time.

Occasionally, cars are made of explodium!

Losing guns doesn't matter though as guns are actually a "rarity" in the game (yeah, not so much later) making gun play one of the weakest aspects of Sleeping Dogs. Still serviceable, but just OK. Most of your fighting will instead be ye olde school martial arts with a system similar to Batman: Arkham Asylum but more robust. I cannot stress how brilliant the systems all work so well together. Also, if you get the Definitive Edition you have the additional content of the DLCs!

Nightmare at North Point sees Wei take on supernatural beings (which features a rarity - the Chinese hopping zombie / Jiangshi), Year of the Snake deals with an end of the world cult who have way too many explosives, and the Zodiac Tournament is where you are invited to a remote island to fight against the other best fighters in the region. An easy one to recommend I give this game four and a half DZS-90s out of five. Yes, even with the random bugs. It's just so much fun!

Insight: Always get massages. If you are going to fight, also drink some Dragon Kick and eat some street food before hand. Also, remember car-fu is stronger than any kung-fu so feel free to run over any criminal scum when you can.

October 2020 Review: Level 14

Been awhile since I talked about my guild / alliance in Neverwinter Online, and despite DL's best recruiting efforts the going is still pretty slow. Fortunately our guild (now  on level 14) has advanced to taking a sword position in the alliance, which means more discounts in building construction and if talks of us taking the helm spot hold through, the discounts would even be larger! We're lucky that our alliance is happy to keep shuffling around to give everyone a turn at stuff. :)

Our castle isn't quite as fancy as Strahd's though...

Meanwhile because Epic is such a shit launcher that only has free games going for it, I'm struggling to balance when to download the bigger games. A slow download speed plus losing any progress should your PC shut down midway really blows. This really makes me appreciate Steam even more. As such I'm going to stop putting a backlog list with these month end posts as it's really not important anyway as I'll eventually write about whatever game I finish (or am done with).

Just to push that point, it's almost like any game over 20GB is not worth it due to the amount in increased electricity I would pay to keep the computer on to download for such an extended period. Instead if I really like a game that big, I'll just ask someone to gift it to me on steam. Much simpler.

I'll finish off with some random tips like always also use a secondary search engine when looking for stuff on the internet as your primary is likely hiding and/or shuffling results (for example google + bing) and if you want to save stories from instagram you can use storysaver.net. Oh and for those who enjoyed Civilization VI, here's an epic cover of the theme song by Peter Hollens and the OSU Chamber Choir.

   End 2020 with less weight (dropping this for the more specific goal below)
   +Lose 1kg this month (last month result: success!)
   Web comic (even more world building... too much world building?)

BLOG STATS

One Year Ago

Wow, has it already been a year since Blizzard stepped in the China vs Hong Kong poop? Let's go check how things are going with that... ah, I see Hong Kong is still f*cked and Blizzard hasn't really taken any increased damage, just the usual self-inflicted version from their own releases. Status quo restored?

Five Years Ago

I was running about in A Tale in the Desert, tale six - an interesting MMORPG that features zero combat and a whole lot of player interaction. It seems this game is still going and is now in tale nine! Good on them!

Most Viewed Posts last Month

Waterdeep: The Dungeon of the Mad Mage
Eschalon: Gramuk!?
R3B1 - Theshold (Part II)

That's a nice grouping - a review of a board game with a popular name, a story post that uses name dropping, and a GTFO tutorial that includes a minor bug exploit. :P

Liberate Hong Kong (Demo)

It's not liberating at all.

Inspired by the Hong Kong protests this Unity made game sees you don the black outfit and yellow hardhat of a protester facing off against a police line. The graphics are quite decent, and there are some nice info graphics that come up when you get close enough to them.

Hope you like reading, as there's not much else to do.

As a game though? Let's just say I hope the "full" version is better as this demo is terrible. You have a single road arena which isn't that big, and don't have much to do other than jog, pick up tear gas canisters  and duck to avoid getting shot, all of which will get boring after 5 minutes especially as the controls are a bit clunky. Apparently protestors can't walk while crouched?

Unfortunately this is not worth playing in its current state. If the map was expanded to a few city blocks and the player was given random objectives to do it might be better, but ultimately it's a game whose only win condition can be "survive for x amount of time" as it quite rightly captures that there's nothing you can really do against the police.

Insight: You can outrun the police mob, but just barely.

Now, because I really wanted to post something positive, here's a better use of those 5 minutes instead - watching this pretty talented busker illustrate a proper method of "non-violent" protest while under pressure.

Blizzard: Tiananmen II

It's amazing how a few hollow words and the promise of entertainment can quell a crowd about to riot. It worked for the Romans, and it seems to be working for Blizzard too. For those not up to speed, here's a recap:

Blizzard is openly kowtowing to China. Business wise one assumes it would be big money for them at the cost of a little thing like morals and human rights, the same cost China is currently extracting from Hong Kong protestors - a few of whom Blizzard silenced. Game wise, things are being slowly changed for their market (which they deny). Less boobs and bones + more mobile games.

People got angry so Blizzard issued a statement of remorse (not an apology), and did not retract any of the offending actions. They then dazzled people with promises of cool games coming soon, which earned them redemption for some while their other supporters just have a general sense of apathy over the whole thing. It's an interesting disconnect.

I wonder, if an event like Tiananmen Square happens, will Blizzard supporters feel anything or will it just be "Blizzard just makes games man - they didn't pull the trigger", "It's not my fault they support China, I just like their games!" and "What they do with the money I give them is their business, not mine!"

While we ponder that, here's what's happening in Hong Kong now since it's not well covered by mainstream news:

Police are arresting students.

Allegedly raping females.

Making some "disappear".

Use of force has been escalating.

As of late, they're also openly shooting people too.

From point blank.

They were also trying to storm the universities.

Students barricaded defended said locations all night.

The general public is supporting them by delivering supplies.

(Perhaps not this dude in particular, he just looks cool getting his lunch!)

Now the students are gearing up with catapults and bows. 

Meanwhile the police are getting a special unit in to assist them.

Is it a massacre waiting to happen?

Do you even care?

If so, spread awareness of what's happening in Hong Kong and/or boycott what you can of China. Realistically Blizzard is low hanging fruit, but doing even a little is better than doing nothing. If you really can't let go of Blizzard, you might find some other way to help.

Remember: If you're not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

Questions for Blizzard

While I'm sure Blizzard presenters have been practicing some set answers by their PR team for BlizzCon (or they should be if they haven't already been), I have a few questions here that it would be nice if they answered plainly.

1 - Is Blizzard secretly (or not so secretly) run by China?
2 - Do you support Human Rights?
3 - Do you support the Hong Kong Revolution?

Here are the achievements they can unlock based on their response:

"The Company Line" - No, Yes, [deflect]. *
"Rock the Boat" - No, Yes, Yes.
"Resistance is Futile" - Yes, No, No.
"Honesty Hurts" - No, Yes, No.
"Pacification Puppet" - Yes, Yes, Yes.
"Haters gonna Hate" - No, No, No.
"Read between the lines" - [deflect], [deflect], [deflect].
"Epic Troll" - Yes, No, Yes.

*Most likely in outcome in my book.

Blizzard Cancellations

Seems the poop Blizzard fell in is so bad that they themselves are cancelling their own events. "Postponing" rather, which is basically a cancellation plus a promise to reschedule later. I wonder if BlizzCon will be next?

Also, if Blizzard did a public apology post and declare the same words that got their Hearthstone champion banned, would customers actually go back to them? It seems they have a habit of sending mixed signals... or is it simply lying outright?

Battlefield 4 Hong Kong

Looks like my list yesterday that included Blizzard was far too short. Here's a more complete record (just scroll down a bit) that also has the "other side" which includes the likes of South Park and Ubisoft (at the moment anyway).

What I really wanted to post was this cool Battlefield 4 Hong Kong compilation video though which is a nice summary of what's going on there. Such realistic graphics and huge player capacity! Downsides are it looks like there's a lot of running due to the huge maps, an overload of spectators and the respawn times take forever.

Switching back to regular content tomorrow, unless something else explodes overnight.

Do you support Dictatorship?

Blizzard, the NBA, Vans (shoes) and Apple do! And if you play any Blizzard games, watch NBA, wear Vans shoes or buy any Apple products/services then by proxy the answer is YES, YOU ALSO ABSOLUTELY SUPPORT IT! In case you weren't aware, these companies have bent the knee and opened their asses for China for whom they suppress free speech, though it seems the NBA is trying to hurriedly pull up its trousers.

Obviously they value money more than morals. Ironic that South Park has more spine than they do. What about you? Do you value your hobbies and gadgets more than your morals? Does it really matter that some far away people are getting oppressed? I'll leave that up to your own conscience.

It's the firing of the interviewers that really lends to this image.

Don't know what's happening in Hong Kong because you don't hear about it in mainstream news? A quick visit to r/Hongkong will sort that out. Don't worry, it's mostly in English.

Actually this presents a wonderful opportunity. Someone should go around to all the game and sports companies and put pro Hong Kong messages just to see which ones follow suit and to see who stands with whom.

Evil Overlord: How to Fix the World. Evilly!

Warning: Dark rage post ahead!

Everywhere you turn these days there are people protesting things - most recently stuff in Hong Kong, Brexit, and climate changers.

This is mainly dealing with the last group, who at least have a solid goal in mind, unlike Brexit. LOL. Just want to say, what's the point in voting if your vote has no point right? NICE ONE BRITAIN! No one should vote there ever again coz you've proven it just DOESN'T MATTER!

Regular people don't actually have any say. Either the people who voted to leave (and won) are ignored or the masses protesting this decision (who lost because they... didn't vote? Voted incorrectly? Stupidly believed politicians/evil overlord?) are ignored. UTTER GOVERMENT FAIL.

Better yet, each time the EU agrees to delay the "result" also makes the whole lot of them look like spineless limp dicks who don't have the balls to actually cut ties. HAHAHAHAAH! "Oh, please come back Britain, we can't function without youuu!" WHAT WORTHLESS LOSERS!

Back to the climate changers - how do they propose we fix stuff? Save the trees, eat less meat, go green. Hell, make half the planet green (as long as it's your half and not mine right)? Those are all weak sauce solutions.

The main problem isn't emissions or sciency shit they spew. The main problem is people. Or to be politically correct: "OVERPEOPLIZATION". Yes, that's a word (a made up word, but its still a word). You want to have less of all those sciency shit problems? The solution is to have LESS PEOPLE. How? EASY!

KILL THEM!

Start with the old - a mandated death day of I dunno. 80 years. No too generous. 45... no, 40 years. Yes. Perfect!

Then go the Nazi route. Kill those who are unproductive to society. Those who are inefficient.  Any who are different. Any who are the same. In the end you'll just be killing almost everyone anyway so the order doesn't matter.

To get behind the whole recycling thing, there should be no more cremations or funerals either. Everyone should just EAT CORPSES! Trust the Evil Overlord when he says THEY ARE DELICIOUS! Hey, we already do that now, people are just another form of protein.

All because you want to save the PLANET right? Because the PLANET is more important than PEOPLE'S HAPPINESS? "Oh noes," they say "but we want all the peoples to live. Their pets too because of CUTE! Anything cute or sentient surely doesn't count towards carbon pollution! We just want everyone to live UNHAPPILLY!"

Now the EVIL OVERLORD is sad because the world's space programs aren't advanced enough to send these double-standard crazies off to the sun. Or, you know, colonize a new planet.

Obviously there will be no killings as above, just the killings that happen when people begin warring over dwindling farmable territory. Or food. Or passable internet connections. Warhammer 40K was right all along.

"Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war."

Oh well, future problems for future people. As San Goku wisely once said "Fuck it, Gohan can deal with it."

Now lets all feel better by watching footage of the "peaceful" Hong Kong protests. Oh so peaceful. Even the gangsters are peaceful! Can you feel the peace? THE PEACE BEING SHARED AMONG ALL THE PEOPLE!?!?!

Ironically, this is the perfect time for them to SAVE THE PLANET! They just have to START THE KILLING! I mean, they're almost there or in the government's case, possibly already there but doing it all hush hush and making people vanish which is silly. Evil Overlord would just kill all who disagree as public entertainment and be done with it. None of this pussy footing around.

What, you think another country will actually step into it? It certainly won't be the limp dick "please come back Britain" EU. What about a USA led Trump? Unlikely if he wants to get re-elected. Even so, its still a win for the climate changers! Remember, LESS PEOPLE MORE PLANET!

>>> experiment end <<<

So, this stemmed from a post (the Seven Questions) to see if I can make people feel something from a post. Let me know if it worked! Did I manage to trigger anyone? It was certainly rage inducing to write so I don't think I want to do that again any time soon. :P