Getting Hooked On Vampire Fantasy

SPEAKER_00 0:15

That's a way to start the show. It really is. It is an awesome way to start the show. Have you guys ever been infatuated with a book? Of course. So I've drastically slowed down my doom scrolling time. And I've filled it with reading. So a while ago, probably like a month ago, I was doom scrolling and I found this guy, and he's talking about this book. I'll tell you the name of the book in a second, but it's like think of like a Castlevania setting. The sun is gone. It's like forever dark. They call it Death's Day. And like, then there's like the holy people who like stop vampires, and there's like different vampire bloodlines. Anyway, so I was like, whoa, this book sounds incredible. So I started reading it. Fell in love with this book. And then the same book creator guy said, I stop. No, no, he's no no, he's not an author. He's like a YouTuber. Oh, okay. Yes. So he's like a some people call it like a book talker, right? Yeah. TikTok. And he was like, I quit Doom Scrolling, and instead of Doom Scrolling at night, I read, and then like, and I'm in this book, and I've kind of like kind of bit into it. And I'll tell you what, I'm in the second book of this series, and the book, the first book is called Empire of the Vampire. And like I'm reading so much that like on my lunch break at work, I'm reading a chapter. You know what I mean? And like I can't stop doing it.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

That's interesting because reading gives you a whole lot of imagination. You get that, you know, you convert words into that visual idea in your head, and it helps with creativity, it helps with relaxation and mindfulness and calm. I love that for you, Marcus.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

Well, it was really funny because Carrie said to me, She's like, Marcus, all these years I didn't think you knew how to read. I can see that so easily. That's why you like everything fully voice acted. So I'm listening to a book at work. It's called Dungeon Dungeon Crawler.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

Yeah, it's incredible on audio. You know, that's funny because I have been asked seven times in the last month by seven different students if my work was inspired by Dungeon Crawler Carl, and I looked up the publication date of the first book. It's 2019, so I'm happy to tell my students that I've been doing what I do since way before those books. But I think it's awesome that you know those books and you connect them with me because anything that inspires people to think about gaming concepts that way, I think is good for the world. It's just really neat.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Doc, of all the books you should listen to, it's that one. Yeah. There's a talking cat that shoots laser beams out of his eyes, and his name's Princess Donut.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

That's amazing. I love talking cats. Talking cat, you know.

SPEAKER_00 3:47

But what's nice is the the cat is very astute, like proper. Like you would think of like if a feline could talk, that would be it where like a dog would be like me. Like you know what I mean? Yeah, a cat would be true and proper.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

I'm hearing the British accent right now.

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Yes, yeah, you you should listen to that audiobook.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

I want to share something since you imperial, probably. What you say? Yeah, but it's a royalty. Okay, got it, got it. I want to tell both of you a major moment for me in my life that the whole time the two of you have known me and people listening on the podcast or watching a Twitch stream or going even all the way back to my first guest appearance with Chill and Teo on UtiniCast, something happened in my content creator career that has never happened since

Audiobooks That Feel Fully Cast

SPEAKER_01 4:50

the last time I talked to either of you. You beat Elden Rang. No, I did that six times. I got a student in my class that on day one messaged me in the portal and said, Oh my gosh, my whole time in this program, I was really hoping I get you for one of my classes. I love your channel. And I but I just told them, like, wow, I think this is the first time ever that someone has known of me before having my class at this school. But my stuff has been moving around and getting, you know, pushed out of different organizations. And I guess I'm doing something right. And then I answered their question about the class. Such a cool moment, though, because I used to, you know, Dr. Gamology as a concept began as a new name for my channel when I started playing more games than just SWOTOR. And it also was a way for me to justify putting gaming principles into my class lectures and to help students remember me, besides just remembering a guy that graded my papers once. And wow, like that was six years ago. It was the middle of 2020 when I made that change. So we've come a long way, everybody. But it's but back to this book stuff. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:30

You know, it's hard to like when you're reading and you're imagining this stuff, it's like you want to share it with so many people, but then you don't want to tell them about it because then they're you're spoiling it for them, you know what I mean? Yeah. Because you never know. I shouldn't give spoilers.

SPEAKER_02 6:51

Yeah. That's hard.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

Yeah, the you know, the best situation I've been in with books is talking about it with someone who's finished it already and has that awareness of the story where they can talk with you about where you're at without spoiling what comes next. That's what I tried to be for you with Harry Potter way back in the day because I'd read them before and you were reading them for the first time. I've never had a book series where I read it at the same time as someone else and we're wondering the same thing.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Yeah, I think it's because maybe everybody either reads at a different pace or you like I could be reading this book and I could tell you about it, and you're like, Yeah, I'll read it, but I'm reading Star Wars Deceived. And when I finish that, I'll start reading your book. You know what I mean? Unless you're you both have read book one and then book two is coming out in two weeks, and you get super hyped for it. I could see it's kind of like a video game or an expansion. Doritos says to me, Marcus, the there's a new flashpoint and it's being set on Capero. Dude, it's coming out on August 12th. We gotta do it on day of. All right, let's do it. You know what I mean? And you have that to look forward to to that release date. But it's hard to like, even like you in Final Fantasy 14, you know, hey Marcus, you should play this game. Okay, I'll play this game, but then you get into it, but now you've already done all this content, and I'm like hundreds of hours behind you.

SPEAKER_01 8:42

Yeah, it's a 300-hour game, basically. Right. Yeah, but people are playing that with me too. Community nights have been going on Sundays, and it's been really cool to mentor people through the first two expansions of the game.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

I would tell you to listen to it, I wouldn't read it. Listen to it. Audio, everybody I hear about it, the voice acting is incredible. Like, it's almost like what's his name, Mark Thompson. Mark Thompson from like that, does the Star Wars books that does all the voices? It's like you have to listen to an audiobook of Star Wars when Mark Thompson's narrating.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

I'd listen to a Mark Hamill narration too. He's a very talented voice actor.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

Can you do it as a joker?

SPEAKER_01 9:38

I'd love it.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

Yeah. But I would just say listen to it because you could listen to it because you can

A Student Recognizes The Creator

SPEAKER_00 9:45

multitask like nobody else. So you could listen to a book, retain it while you're working just fine.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

Thanks. That's a compliment for sure.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

I wanted to ask you, I'm in a pickle.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:05

With video with a video game. So I want to play Elden Ring. I don't want to play the DLC. Like I'm not like it doesn't have its claws in me like the main story. I want to do new game plus and start over, but like I think I'm like halfway done with the DLC. So it's like, and then you're going into the DLC halfway done at new game plus, so it's like gonna be even harder. You know what I mean? Because they say you shouldn't go into the DLC in new game plus.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

I'm playing the DLC on my playthrough number six character. I think the game is just hard anyway. I'm not really sure. Like, are you saying that if I would have started a new character just on first playthrough, that I would have beaten the DLC already?

SPEAKER_00 11:09

Maybe.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Oh, I'm not doing that. That's a lot of bosses to go after just to play the DLC.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

I don't really know what to do. I know it's up to me, but I'm so torn on what I should do. You know?

SPEAKER_01 11:29

I think you should do New Game Plus and play to get a different ending. That gives you a different set of bosses and extra things to go after. It's a fun challenge. And you will end up getting a second Moon Veil katana or whatever it is you want to use. Yeah, why not? And summon. Summon the the boss.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

Let me tell you, in the DLC, I'm summoning. Yeah. Like, yeah. I just need something to tie me over until October 15th. On October 15th. Castlevania Belmont's Curse comes out. And like, Castlevania is my jam.

unknown 12:23

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

Play the series. I've played so many of them. When was the last time? When was the last time you played it? Let's go to my library. And how do I search that? Where does it say it? Because I played Symphony of the Night on the PlayStation, but not all the way through. I don't know. Oh, last played. Wow, Castlevania Lords of Shadow. January 30th, 2014. Lords of Shadow 2? March 24th, 2014. You gotta you gotta have years to since you're like I've never beat Bloodstained Ritual of the Night, so I could do that. I only have one achievement. I should play that game. That plays good on the Steam Deck. But then I would have to not play read my book. That's the I'm telling you. Like it's crazy. Choice is choice. Doritos, what have you been playing?

SPEAKER_02 13:38

I've been playing plenty of Sotor. We got the new season out, getting ready for 8-0 later later. Anticipated probably to come out. Anniversary times, I think the general consensus of the probably when 8-0 will drop, but it could be next year.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

Yeah, I watched a couple videos about it, and you know, it's like people just love to complain. Like, I'm excited that you guys are getting that. You know, like even if there's not a shit ton of content, at least you're getting some.

How To Talk Books No Spoilers

SPEAKER_01 14:11

You know, I think that the next expansion for SWOTOR will be a lot of fun. I did attend the content creator meeting. I'm not allowed to talk about it. But I can easily see myself jumping back to in the game a little bit before this expansion comes out or immediately after the expansion launches, just with the things they have planned. I think it lines up with the kinds of things that give me a lot of fun, exciting video game feeling.

SPEAKER_00 14:46

Yeah, I want to finish the story. Then why don't you? Yes. I'm updating it right now. Like the story has been such a big part of my life. I just need to finish the story. And it's not like it's hard. You just gotta go do it.

SPEAKER_01 15:08

My mantra. My Steam dashboard is like hitting me with all kinds of games that make me want to play them, but it's a problem because I can't buy them all.

SPEAKER_02 15:21

Alright, I'm in the same boat. But I'll pick one and play maybe a different game for an hour here, an hour there.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:36

Oh! Whoa! 8-0 level cap increased to 85. New abilities across all disciplines, combat balance updates. I haven't seen anything. Like, I've been legit like checked out. That's actually good.

SPEAKER_02 15:52

Well, it remains to be seen what that really means. Are they gonna keep static gear? There's too many unknowns in my opinion. Oh come on. So, but it could be quite interesting. You know, they're still trying to put stuff on the PTS.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

I like the fact that it's an whether it's a new gearing system or not, I like the level 85 because that gives you a returning player a reason to come back and have like a fair chance. A fair chance at what? So like this would be a good time for me to get back into it. So I'm already max level on one character, but like usually if you do the expansion for the story and you catch up on your character, you'll be max level. But like you get in at day one of doing the new gear grind. I feel like you're at that level playing field to like do it with somebody. Like me and Doritos could do it together because he's gonna grind because he's gonna be raiding, right? And he's gonna have to get the new gear to raid.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

So for you, it's important from the raid.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

So what'd you say? New gear may drop from the raid. So for me, like if there's a time, like I should just get back into it. I do miss it. And then that might be what I need. A little swap tour in my life. Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

I do I'm at a crossroads too, because with my computer being new, I now legitimately have a question in my head when a new game comes out. Do I want to get it on the PlayStation or do I want to get it on Steam? And it's hard because if I get it on PlayStation, I can play it on my computer, I can also play it in my living room, I can play it on my portal. If I get it on Steam, I can actually put it on my computer, but that means I'm sitting in this chair to play it, unless it also works on my Steam Deck. But a lot of games that are looking this good on PC do not operate that well on Steam Deck.

SPEAKER_00 18:14

Okay, you're talking to the graphics snob, okay. Claire Obscure looks great on the Steam Deck. Yes, it's a little insulated, but it still looks great. When a game first comes out, it may not be perfect on the Steam Deck, but they usually, if the company is aiming to put it on the Steam Deck, it's gonna work, right? Like one of the highest-rated games on the Steam Deck are Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth. Like they went above and beyond to make that beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

Yeah, I'm looking right now at Mortal Shell 2, which came out last week. That's and it says like it's yeah, it says playable for Steam Deck compatibility, so that's the yellow marker, so not green, but it came out last week. Well, and most of the time I would be playing it on my computer anyway, but I bypass this entire problem by sticking with PlayStation.

SPEAKER_00 19:11

Um, here's my opinion because I I have a PlayStation, I have an Xbox, and I have my computer. Okay, I feel as if the if you buy it on the PlayStation, you're gonna get a consistent game across the board. Because when it comes out for a PlayStation, it's meant to play on that system, right? Your computer is going to play the game, you will be running less things to like play it. If you played Mortal Shell 2 on the stream, you'll be running less programs to run that game, and your new graphics card is intended to play that game, like these games. But personally, for me, I buy it on Steam.

SPEAKER_01 19:59

This

Elden Ring DLC Or New Game Plus

SPEAKER_01 20:00

is a beautiful controller, Marcus. I don't understand why you have to go out of your way to hit me with strays.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

I just it's it's who I am. It's like dungeon crawl crawler Carl's catchphrase is damn it, donut.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

I got I got a a switch controller too, right here. So it has the control stick in the wrong spot. No, that's the crazy you weirdos.

SPEAKER_00 20:30

Anyway, what I would say to you is I would almost challenge you. Have you ever played the game Lies of P?

SPEAKER_01 20:40

No, I have access to it somewhere, okay, and I've been thinking about playing it for a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 20:46

I challenge you to buy a game on your computer, right? Whatever that game may be, Mortal Shell 2, Lies of P, NBA 2K27, whatever that is. I challenge you to buy a game on Steam and see how you play it. Like, see if it brings your Steam Deck out of the retirement hub and you start using that more and you play on your computer more because you now have a computer. If you buy a game and you're like, you know what, I'm not really playing it, like I'm not enjoying it as much, then you answered your own question with the PlayStation ecosystem.

SPEAKER_01 21:25

Were you on any episode since I got back from my cruise, Marcus? No, I got on my cruise, I spent the first afternoon tinkering with settings to get Claire Obscure Expedition 33 to run. Okay. Because the prologue has something at the very end when you're on the boat, where if your settings are not right, your game dies, you go back to the Steam dashboard, and the game won't launch. And that happened to me. Sure. And I did eventually solve the problem using the ship Wi-Fi, which that in and of itself, I do not recommend downloading Steam Deck updates on cruise ship Wi-Fi. But I did endure it. I got it done. And the next afternoon I was able to play about 90 minutes on the Steam Deck, and it was beautiful. And for whatever reason, there's no lag on reaction buttons on Xbox Game Pass or the PC version of that game that there is when I play it on PlayStation. So my timing is exceptional on Windows-based devices, and it's trash on PlayStation devices. And I'm the same guy, same brain, and the same pointer finger on those shoulder buttons. So I really have no idea why it's like this, but I know Doritos hung out on a lot of my streams of that game, and it was something I probably talked about every single stream. Sure. Because I did start the game on Xbox Game Pass, switch to PlayStation, and now I've played it on Steam Deck, and for some reason. Anyway, I love the way it works on those systems. So Steam Deck is better than the PlayStation Portal because the game is actually on your hard drive. So you can play it without that constant streaming from a stable internet connection. Right.

SPEAKER_00 23:42

So well, I think I'll look into it. I think pick and choose, right? Like pick a game. I'll use Lies of P or Mortal Shell 2 because that's what we're just talking about. I would pick one of those games to play, right? But like when Final Fantasy VII Retaliation Revelation, sorry, when that comes out, you're obviously getting that on the PlayStation, right? Like that's a PlayStation buy, right?

SPEAKER_01 24:09

Yeah, because that's that's I got a platinum trophy, that one, so I complete the triple platinum set.

SPEAKER_00 24:14

Right. Like I can understand your point. You know what I mean? There. Well, that's well, it's because you want to support them and like whatever. But you know, for me, where like the only time I get screwed with the being a PC gamer is NHL 27 or 26, whatever it is, and MLB the show. Like I play it with my son, and they don't come out on the computer, they don't release them on the computer, so it's like I'm forced to buy it on the PlayStation.

SPEAKER_01 24:51

Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_00 24:52

And it's weird. I hate the PlayStation controller, but yet I have two PlayStations and my Xbox is sitting on my floor, not hooked up.

SPEAKER_01 25:01

You're such a fake fan, Marcus.

SPEAKER_00 25:04

Well, no, it's because the Xbox, so the Xbox ecosystem is linked. Any game that goes out for Xbox, I can play on my computer.

SPEAKER_01 25:14

Yeah, that's true. By the way, I apologize. I should never call anyone a fake fan because like half my internet life is about telling people you can't say that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 25:24

All right, can we just be really transparent right now? No, I'm not gonna go. No, you you're when you say that stuff, it's you're talking shit to me. It's different. You're not talking about anybody else on the internet, you're talking shit to me.

SPEAKER_01 25:41

And yet there could be a licensed counselor in Idaho that listens to this episode as the first one and is like, man, Dr. Kaufman's a dick.

SPEAKER_00 25:55

Yeah, so I'm clicking, yeah. It says Xbox Series XS, so I can't play it on the computer. Oh. Show in store.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

You know what I'm going to do right now? I'm gonna tell my computer to download a couple games. I want to see what Final Fantasy 16 looks like on this computer.

SPEAKER_00 26:29

Oh,

SWTOR 8.0 Hype And Open Questions

SPEAKER_00 26:30

hold on.

SPEAKER_01 26:31

Yeah, it's probably gonna be beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 26:34

You're gonna go right into your settings, and once you put it on your monitor at 1440p, 1080p, or 4K, whatever it is, and you hit the ultra button, the highest preset button, and you go into that world, you're gonna be like, okay, now I see what Marcus has been talking about for all these years.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

When I actually download stuff or use my computer in any way, the fans go up higher in my computer, and I get this nice little breeze on my legs. It's fun.

SPEAKER_00 27:06

And an app, and another app to download for you is MSI afterburner. You can control your fan speeds from it and like turn them up, turn them down. Oh, do I need to do that? Is that better than just laying the computer? No, I I do it because I'm a nerd. I would rather my fans does it work with non-MS MSI parts? It does. Didn't for me. Mine, it's worked great for all the years. And I have Corsair fans and everything else. A gigabyte 5080.

SPEAKER_01 27:46

I do have a question that leads to a topic, but leads to something really cool that I hope we can figure out to do the three of us. And that is about how video games open a chance for socialization in our lives as busy adults. And I was just wondering, since we've had a month where things have been really hectic, I would venture to say we're all in a situation where life is a little different than the last time we had a three-person episode of the show. I wonder, you know, what kinds of social opportunities have you had in life and have any of them come from video games?

SPEAKER_03 28:42

No.

SPEAKER_01 28:47

I have a boring life. I just think that you do things very consistently, and so the the peaks of that excitement are just like stable eyes.

SPEAKER_00 29:05

Yeah, Doritos, you talk to a lot of people when you play video games.

SPEAKER_02 29:12

If it's something that I can talk through, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:15

Well, back when we raided, you talk to me about Arcus. You have to reflect that.

SPEAKER_02 29:20

Well, I mean, if I understand mechanics for a sort of torture, yes, I've played it long enough. It's something new that I'm learning or I'm not proficient at, no, I'm quiet, locked in, and focused, which is why I'm a horrible streamer.

SPEAKER_01 29:31

You strike me though, as someone who'd be a really good mentor as a group participant in a rage. I'm getting to dabble in being that in Final Fantasy XIV because I'm playing with people in the first two expansions. And when I'm with AIE, those people they know the game in a way that I don't think I ever will because life has pulled me in a different direction. I can't catch up with the way they see the game. But I do get to be kind of that mentor and guide and giving tips and pointers when I'm playing with people in level 40 content and 50 content and 60 content. And that game, by the way, the level cap is 100. So, you know, if they're in the first half of the end game grind. But I can see you very easily, Doritos, being a great person to explain things and get people through stuff when maybe they're not Ray yet, but that little bit from you can push them over the hump.

SPEAKER_02 30:40

Well, I mean, I've taken plenty, I've led several different raid groups. It's just I usually tend to try to keep on the if I'm not necessarily the raid lead, I will try to add when asked, and unless we're banging our head against a wall, trying to do something, a tactic that's not optimal, then I'll speak up.

SPEAKER_01 31:06

Will you say just uninstall everyone? Unsubscribe, get out of here.

SPEAKER_02 31:11

Nope. Can't do that.

SPEAKER_01 31:12

It's not my person, not me, I ain't me.

SPEAKER_00 31:18

Yeah. I uh I can't say anything because Doritos was great. He let I might have been the raid lead, but really Doritos was the leader. So like I would start explaining something and he would let me finish, and he'd be like, okay, 96% of that was correct. But whatever you do, the most important part of the fight, don't do what Marcus said. Do this.

SPEAKER_01 31:44

I wish I would have someday been on a raid team with Doritos.

SPEAKER_00 31:50

Well, so 8.0 is coming, Doc, and we should all do it together.

SPEAKER_01 31:55

When you say bring back Death Star Troopers, like how deep are we going? Death Star Troopers. Like, are we gonna get Cat and Venn?

SPEAKER_00 32:06

Yes, are we gonna get we can get into SAR? No problem. Doritos will come. Maybe yeah, but you're coming. You have no you there's no choice there. There's always a choice. The choice is you're coming. But anyway, we could probably get Baron von Dank. Wes. Yeah, we could probably. Well, how many is that? Ben, cat, me, you, Dorito.

SPEAKER_01 32:33

What about the other tanks? Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 32:36

Me and me and Doritos are the tanks.

SPEAKER_01 32:39

Oh, so okay, so that's not my Death Star Troopers, but okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:46

But it's I said 2.0. 2.0. You would be a DPS, Ven would be a DPS, cat would be a healer, Doritos and Int Sar would be a healer. So there's our two healers. Me and Doritos tanks, so that's done. We need two more DPS.

SPEAKER_01 33:05

I don't know how time to figure it out.

SPEAKER_00 33:07

Yeah. I'm just saying.

SPEAKER_01 33:08

The question is like, how much of a content creator following do we want behind this team? Like, who can we oh, these are our people.

SPEAKER_00 33:18

Okay. We'll start with quick story mode just to get like our feet wet, and then bam, we're in it. Hard mode.

SPEAKER_01 33:25

I feel like by the third pull, I feel like the rotation would be back. Right. Lightning bolt. No, it's crushing darkness. And then we have to proc the auto move, do affliction, then we do thunder blast, then chain lightning, and then the three thunderbolts, Marcus. And you use speed to get the auto cast on one of those lightning bolts, also. I got it. It's all in here.

SPEAKER_00 33:56

Just saying. I think we should make a comeback story. An eight pointer.

SPEAKER_01 34:02

Was that accurate enough for someone who hasn't played the game in three years?

SPEAKER_02 34:09

Pretty good. The game mostly hasn't changed for the most part. There's some optimization still to be done with it. But you know, you gotta play the game to re-optimize. See that?

SPEAKER_01 34:22

Yeah, it's all about the game and how you play it.

SPEAKER_00 34:26

Hey, you gotta bring the milkshake to the yard.

SPEAKER_01 34:31

Are we just making cheesy dad joke references to songs now? No, no, it would never do anything like that.

SPEAKER_00 34:40

It's such a comedy show.

SPEAKER_01 34:42

I feel like though, we're actually illustrating

PC Vs PlayStation And Steam Deck Choices

SPEAKER_01 34:45

exactly the topic, though. Just the idea of us playing this game together is upping the camaraderie in the conversation to a level that I don't know if it's ever been exactly like this on any of the episodes. Well, and by the way, last episode was 185 for the show. That makes which means 61 episodes since Marcus joined the show. I kind of look at it like you know, 2.0 of this show is what we're doing right now. Well, it would be so cool. I have this show with it would be really cool, Marcus, for us to have Death Star Troopers operating while we're doing this show together.

SPEAKER_00 35:32

I agree, and I've missed the social side of gaming. Like my last two years of gaming has all been single player games. Unless I'm playing Minecraft with my son, or like I said, the show or NHL. It's really just or Fortnite, but like I'm only talking to my son, right? Like, I miss the social the social side of gaming. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 36:03

Yeah, but that turned into your presence sentence.

unknown 36:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:06

I but to answer your original question, I'm circling back. You were talking about like, have we gotten social? Like been social with that has to do with games. I've been social because I've been playing a crap ton of real hockey. So that's a game, it's just not a video game.

SPEAKER_01 36:31

Yeah. If you can play a sport and you make time for it in your schedule, that's a really good way to get out there, be around people, meet people, or develop friendships, and you have a shared goal, so it's easier to build that bond, too. I release a lot of stress on the ice. Hmm. Yeah, you can hit people without going to jail.

SPEAKER_03 36:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:56

No, we don't, you don't, we're not hitting anybody. We all gotta go to work the next day. But they have given me a nickname. It's official. Yeah? Tugboat. Tugboat. What's the story behind that? Well, because I work really hard, but I'm big and I'm slow, but I work, but I'm chugging.

SPEAKER_01 37:21

I had the image of you dragging someone down the ice.

SPEAKER_00 37:28

Hey, do you remember the game Wildstar? Yeah. It's in my in it's in my library. It says install, even though the game's dead. Sad face.

SPEAKER_02 37:40

Game's dead. Servers off. Servers off.

SPEAKER_01 37:45

That was some fun little game for a short time, yeah. There is a lawsuit in California that would force game studios to do their best and provide legal evidence of this effort to make games so that they do not become unplayable, even in instances where the studio goes under. Like by making a game that people buy that is a server-based thing, they would have to convert the game into something that can be played offline legally.

SPEAKER_02 38:23

So I guess I guess if it's a program, you doubt you download it. Okay, that would work. Yeah. I just think just thinking with Sony and now Xbox going solely digital, no, no hard media, physical media anymore. Yeah. How that works for going offline. That just means you download it to your device and it would reside on a hard drive somewhere.

SPEAKER_01 38:50

Yeah. So what I'm thinking, if we use Star Wars, the Old Republic as an example, say in some dystopian future, it has to go offline. The final update before the company stops supporting it, they would have to make it so you can play the game without other people. And the activities of the enemies and NPCs would happen the same as programmed characters in a non-online game. You'd basically be turning it into a KOTOR game. And who even knows what that even means? I'm sure the court systems are not that are looking at this case are not thinking like you have to convert the raids into something that can be soloed, right? That's so you you would have content that's just impossible.

SPEAKER_03 39:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:54

It would have to be adjusted content if they were to go that route, where it would be NPC Fire Team.

SPEAKER_01 40:02

Oh, true. Final Fantasy has that where you can play a lot of the content with a team of NPCs, and you can even pick which NPCs fill what role in some instances.

SPEAKER_02 40:17

That would be cool. That would probably go more that route, making raids more achievable. I mean, it would have to be clearly scaled. And there would be no other modes unless I don't guess I could have a land party, suppose, and have others.

SPEAKER_01 40:40

Yeah, it's really just interesting how important online connectivity is for all of this now. Even one of the big things that we talk about at my my treatment program for Kinebridge, it's about how the landscape of gambling even is so internet-based now that we have to do education about your data and how algorithms market to you, and how you know you're always online, and how advertising creates desire and promotes engagement.

SPEAKER_00 41:21

Yeah, it's all how it connects us.

SPEAKER_01 41:25

I was cooking dinner tonight, and my wife came into the

Social Gaming As Busy Adults

SPEAKER_01 41:30

kitchen and was talking to me about some messages she got on her phone related to plans the next couple days with her friends. She was talking about how different her life is since she went back to starting working and how she has a really full social calendar now. And for me, I don't necessarily see myself as having a full social calendar, but she corrected me and was absolutely correct. She said, Your social calendar is still very full, it's just a lot of it is work stuff, but all of your friends exist online. And I was like, Yeah, that's very true. I mean, even doing this podcast for me is a social activity, and it is still deeply connected to video games, even though we're not playing anything at this moment. We're letting people have that inside look on the plan of bringing a raid team together at some point in the future, TBD.

SPEAKER_00 42:30

Oh, I'm all about it. I think it would be so much fun to bring it back.

SPEAKER_01 42:37

Yeah, my Switch was at 50% downloaded right now.

unknown 42:41

Love it.

SPEAKER_00 42:45

It feels good to be back. It feels good to hear you guys' voice. Sorry, I've been. Well, my computer blew up, and that was a two-week debacle. Your computer has blown up more since you started doing the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 42:58

I think you're the Han Solo of PCs, and you're just constantly tinkering with your Millennium Falcon.

SPEAKER_00 43:06

No. What I need to do is buy a computer and have it all be brand new, and then I without a video card in it, and I just drop the 5080 in it and be done. That's what I need to do. Because like I've been this computer, like the case is I don't know how long I've had this case for a long time, and like I've just been adding parts and changing parts forever. But I've lost, I think I'm on my third power supply in five years, six, maybe, right? Doritos. Like when I podcasted with Nick, not Nick, A-Tracks, my power first power supply blew, and then it blew again, and it just blew. And it's gotta be like a short somewhere in here that causes it.

SPEAKER_01 44:08

Yeah, you're just a mad scientist, and you're always trying to push it.

SPEAKER_00 44:12

No, it's I like my setup. I just buy a new video card. And like that's it's just time. I think I think it's just time for me to order the computer and not be a cheap ass and just buy the one I want without a video card in it and call it a day. Call it a day. Because I could reuse my RAM sticks too, because they're fast DDR5s and I have 64 gigs of it. So yeah, I'd be no, that's for sure. It's good to be back, it's good to see your faces. I like the fact that we're talking about Death Star Troopers. I want to continue this conversation, and you know what else I want to continue? The journey.