Category Archives: General

My Initial Thoughts on Path of Exile 2

I know, a new post, first since March of 2023, other than updates to my General Wishlist post, it’s been a while.

I have cross posted most of this in Lots of Different Feedback – Character Selection, On Death and Other Mechanics, and Many Others on the PoE 2 forums. Also note, for those who don’t know, GGG refers to Grinding Gear Games, the company in New Zealand, who makes Path of Exile.

So I’ve been enjoying the hell out of Path of Exile 2. Path of Exile was long one of my favorite games. I have been on the forums at least since 2012, though not sure when I first started playing as I’ve generally deleted most of my characters once they moved to standard from a league. I do remember I quickly bounced as it was too complicated for me at the time. Eventually with the help of some build guides, I did eventually get to the end game. I’ve never made it too far in the end game, back in the day I’d get to one or two of the main bosses in the corners of the atlas, then now, basically the same point, early red maps where I run out of the ability to progress further. Always with a build guide though, and at that point, it’s usually gear that I’m lacking in, and skill I’m sure. And while I play in trade leagues, I am fairly solo self found in trade. 

With PoE 2, I am once again going mostly without a build guide. Trying to understand it myself. So we’ll see how it goes. As I write this, I have finished Act 3, and started Act 1 Cruel (EDIT, time played to about 30 minutes into Act 1 Cruel was 1 day, 15 hours, 10 minutes, 26 seconds, 121 deaths, and killed 24,562 monsters). So not in the endgame maps yet, and some of the thoughts on end game are based on what I’ve seen so far. The rest is more or less based on what I’ve experienced so far in the game. EDIT 9 January 2024, I’m in the End Game, Maps now. Total play time before that was 2 days, 16 hours, 29 minutes and 5 seconds, I died 236 times, and killed 43,107 monsters. So about 40 hours first 3 acts, 24 for the second 3…

I’ve been playing the game off and on, on my Twitch channel, and uploading the highlight (basically the whole stream) to my YouTube.

I got to say that I love WASD for movement. That is perhaps one of PoE 2’s greatest achievements. While I haven’t tried controller support, I hear, aside from a few menu related things, and chat, it is an amazing achievement itself too. So bravo on that. It is one of the game’s best features. I do wish it had a Grim Dawn like ability to spin the camera, which would have been the chef’s kiss in terms of movement and looking around. 

I also enjoyed the campaign. It took me 1 Day, 15 hours, 10 minutes through the first 3 acts and to get to Act 1 Cruel. That’s with learning things, trying things on my own, and exploring nearly every nook and cranny. Probably would be closer to 20 to 30 on a normal run. If Act 4 to 6 take about the same length of time, I’m good. I don’t think we should listen to those who are complaining about the campaign length. It takes me a fairly good time to get through the campaign in regular PoE, certainly not as long, but a lot of that is experience with the game, and not exploring as much as I have with this character in the game.

Continue reading My Initial Thoughts on Path of Exile 2

General Wish List Spring/Summer 2025

Before buying things here myself, money would be used to be ready for any potential financial emergencies, such as much needed replacement ca, home repairs, and especially for paying things off, etc., then the items below. But if one wants, money can be given via PayPal and credit card donations can be made here, though there is a fee (not sure the percentage), also generally 10% of all donations I get there I give to The Trevor Project (suicide prevention and crisis intervention for LGBTQIA+ youth) since that is part of my commitment for donations to my Twitch streams, if it is noted that this is for wish list / bills, I might skip the donation if you want. Or there is my Venmo, I’m not sure how much they take in fees. The main use of money right now would be to pay things down, and towards a much needed new to me car.

As most of this is for my fitness wishes, so here’s my Strava profile, so when, if, I get this stuff, one can see how I do. I also believe this is my Zwift profile. My Twitch and YouTube where I will upload rides from Zwift and the like should be in the bar to the left. I’ll also likely blog about my progress here.

NOTE, as of April 2025: The prices below are almost all before any of Trump’s Tariffs go into effect, and were accurate when they were originally written, between March of 2023 and some additions in 2025. Obviously Trump’s tariffs will make things far more expensive. Also, while a new car is posted much further down the list, that likely has to be number one, as my current car has over 200k miles on it, and it’s a Ford, not some super reliable Honda, Toyota or something like that, so back to the cash above, or the list further down (or search for like Crosstrek on the page, it should take you to that part of the list).

Primary Wants

The long and short of it is that the item wish list order is (with all these, see their related sections below): [Car, things paid down], [Trainer], New Watch, [Trainer], Power Meter Pedals and cycling shoes to use said pedals, bike computer, [Trainer]. Note the trainer is both the number 1, number 3, and end points on that, just depends on when/where, etc.

Some of the below are on this Amazon wish list, though many of the cheaper more preferred choices, such as the cheaper bike trainer (even the Wahoo trainer on there are not as cheap as they are direct from Wahoo or Zwift), aren’t available from Amazon. However, to make it easier on some people, I put on the Amazon list what I could.

EDIT Late May 2025: So my computer is locking up and getting stuck in a reboot loop, so a new PC might be firs (this PowerSpec G752 Gaming PC from Microcenter, $2499.99, meets all the minimum specs, AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, 2 TB NVMe SSD (I’d prefer a NVMe M2 drive at 2TB, with a 2 TB NVMe SSD as my secondary drive), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti… I’d prefer to get a better video card, notably the 5090, but that’s far more expensive, and would mean a more custom build, which would be even better, but at this price point, it’s good as is), then watch, then power meter pedals and shoes for them, bike computer, then trainer if I can get ability to use it somewhere, which presently might need an iPad with a SMS card to be used on a second line… Oh, and a car. Really, car, then computer, then trainer if I could use it, but as I can’t, it’d then go to the power meters and shoes, then watch…

A New Smart Watch

NOTE As of 2 May 2025: while the watch is still number one item after the trainer, at the moment, I’d probably say that if one isn’t getting the Garmin Epix Pro (gen2), it might be best to wait, as rumors say the Garmin Forerunner 970 is coming very soon, as in mid or late May, or June 2025, and will have the same sensor that the Epix Pro has, which is a vast improvement over the Forerunner 965’s current sensor. EDIT again: The Forerunner 970 ($749.99) is finally out, and while amazing, especially having the far better sensor, the price is a bit more expensive than expected. I’ve seen the Epix Pro on sale cheaper, though normal price is still far more expensive.

My watch is getting out of date in terms of fitness tracking. It can’t track lots of activities that the newer watches can, like climbing, and doesn’t track running dynamics. Also it’s GPS is nowhere near as good as the ones here. It’s an older Garmin Venu I got around 2020 (they are up to 3 on the Venu side). The Venu is more an semi entry level fitness watch than a sports watch. So the idea is to upgrade to a proper sports watch. Plus my Venu is starting to drain a bit too fast. It is still better than say an Apple Watch, but bad for a Garmin.

The “cheaper” of the new watches I want is a Garmin Forerunner 965 ($599.99). Black band or yellow band… though really, the yellow band really kicks it up. This is what I’d probably go for, even if I had the money for the Epic Pro (gen2) below, because that extra money could go for other items on the list.

While that is the more “reasonably priced” option. Going up to $899 (for the regular Gorilla glass), or $999 (for Sapphire crystal and Titanium case), one gets the brand new Garmin Epix Pro (gen2). The Epix Pro (gen2) has far more features, far more accuracy (both GPS, and fitness), and has ECG ability. Like this watch is beyond amazing, and I want it as my main watch choice, but is it really $300 better than the Forerunner 965? Probably not.

Smart Trainer for Bike

So one of the main reasons I wanted a bike period, way back in 2020/2021, like over 80% (probably over 90%), is to use Zwift, TrainerRoad, or other similar apps (more on those later). So it’d be number one on this list, but space to use it is why it’s down here. Plus to use it anywhere I can’t see the computer or living room TV, means an iPad, gaming level laptop, Apple TV and a new TV (not exactly portable though), or something along those lines.

The main advantage of a smart trainer is being able to do actual training, at set power levels. Which one can’t do realistically on the road, at least without power meter pedals, which are further down the list. And power meters are far more expensive than a trainer, though become required in addition to a trainer if one is serious about racing on Zwift and other platforms for cash or other prizes. Even with all that, the terrain, temperature and wind, cars, other people on the road or trail, all effect what one is doing, making it near impossible to keep at a certain power zones. Indoor training fixes that. Plus you can do it every day, all year, where going out in the snow, rain, extreme heat and cold, and dealing with road traffic, make it harder to train outdoors.

Also, programs like Zwift help gamify the fitness, and keep you riding, chasing kits (clothing items, such as socks, gloves, glasses, shirts, bibs, bike shorts, shoes, etc.), bikes, wheels, badges, achievements, and more. Like it’d probably be my most played “game” while also helping me get more fit. Like I said, it’d probably be my main “game”, even over my Steam games and the like, because there’s just more I could in theory do, and goals to chase. New routs to take. There’s so much that one could take advantage of with it. Seriously, it’d be used a lot if I could use of Zwift and others like it. My most played game is Path of Exile, a Free to Play game that I have over 600 hours in (might be able to see digging around in my Steam Profile), though that’s since 2012 and most of that is the last few years (which is beyond the point), but to say that I think I’d get that many hours in Zwift in less than a year. Zwift is basically the number one reason I have a bike in the first place.

The doctor also recently recommended I put the bike on a trainer to help with things like overall fitness, the especially heart health, and this was before he knew I wanted one. His concern was more riding when it was too hot, too cold, raining, and focusing on heart health training. Because you can focus what you are working on, legs, heart, lungs, endurance, all can be worked on specifically, while just going out and riding is just focusing on basic health, not heart health or whatever. Basically just overall fitness would be vastly improved. And others could use it as well, they could ride on the bike and trainer on their own account, and get fit as well.

My last two therapist, especially the last one, also said I should get one, as it would greatly improve my mental health and happiness.

Continue reading General Wish List Spring/Summer 2025

Whatever Happened to the Chocolate Pudding Pie Recipe?

The Jell-O Brand Instant Chocolate Pudding used to come with a recipe for pie. It still says on the box, pudding and pie filling. But the box only includes the pudding recipe, not the pie one which cuts the milk.

I can’t even find the recipe on their website. They got variations of it, with Cool Whip, and Peanut Butter, etc, but not the old basic one for just the basic chocolate pudding pie.

After some searching I found this:

Directions
5 min. Pudding Directions: 2 cups of milk. Beat pudding mix and 2 cups cold milk with whisk 2 min. Pudding will be soft-set in 5 min. Makes 4 (1/2-cup) servings. Store leftovers in refrigerator.
Classic pudding pie: Makes 8 servings. Prepare as directed for pudding, reducing milk to 1-3/4 cups. (For fuller pie, use 2 pkg. [3.9 oz each] and 2-3/4 cups milk). Pour at once into Honey Maid Graham pie crust. Refrigerate at least 1 hour (3 hours for fuller pie) or until set. Top each serving with 2 Tbsp cool whip whipped topping. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Why that can’t be printed on the box anymore, I don’t know…

Ashes of Creation – Promising Alpha, Unfortunate Timing

So I got to play a bit of the Ashes of Creation alpha, an upcoming open world MMORPG. The eventual promise of the game, is that every action you take, can impact the world. You can help build a settlement into a city. It’s sort of EVE Online, but in a fantasy roll playing world, and perhaps not as complex… we’ll see.

To be fair, I generally don’t care for full PvP, open world MMORPGs, I prefer my games to be more theme park, like Final Fantasy XIV, which is a super great MMORPG, that I enjoy thoroughly, and I only use the Demo version of so far… World of Warcraft lost me a long time ago, long before the current player base drift.

Continue reading Ashes of Creation – Promising Alpha, Unfortunate Timing

Why Isn’t January 1st on the Solstice?

First, I’m not going to be answering that question, I’m asking it, and arguing why it should have been on the Solstice (when being setup, not now), and not some random day after. This isn’t some cute way of raising the question then providing the answer, such as “why is it dark at night?” Which while it may seem a clear answer, we’re on the shaded side of the Earth from the Sun. But given the number of starts out there, that every spot you look at has tons of galaxies, even in the gap of stars, the night sky should at worst look like the Milky Way all over the place, to being even a bit brighter, even on a night with no moon overhead. There would still be night, it would still be “dark”, but it should be brighter than it is. There is of course a rather simple answer, and I’ll let you go about exploring that on your own.

This is just a simple question of why didn’t the Gregorian Calendar set January 1st on the Northern Hemisphere Winter Solstice? Why some random date 11 days later? Continue reading Why Isn’t January 1st on the Solstice?

On the Odd Cult of Launcher Loyalty

Okay, so there’s a game coming out next year called Satisfactory, which has been described as a first person Factorio. I’ve been looking forward to, signed up on test it, dying to test it, and all that jazz. Been following it and the news… and then a few days ago it disappeared from the Steam store, and you’d have thought the world came to the end. The developers said “They are looking into it” on the game’s Discord server, and  the community seemed to be getting in a tissy. Finally the community manager was allowed to make the announcement…

So the big news then was that the game wasn’t coming to Steam, but would be exclusive to the new Epic Games Store, and a very vocal part of the community and fan base just lost their shit as if it was the apocalypse. With many saying they weren’t going to buy the game now if it wasn’t on Steam. Even though we don’t have all the information yet, we’ll get more on Wednesday  (it’s a Friday as I type this), people are jumping to far reaching conclusions. 

Continue reading On the Odd Cult of Launcher Loyalty

Thoughts on What Makes a Good Life and the Pursuit of Happiness

Generally this is a gaming blog. Occasionally I stretch into political discourse, and I used to discuss faith and religion. However, I’ve tried to keep it largely focused on gaming of late. What follows probably would normally be something I’d just post to Facebook for my friends, perhaps open that post up to the public… but I figured why not push it here for a change of pace… and then share it to Facebook. 🙂

There’s a new TED Talk video called What Makes a Good Life? Lessons from the Longest Study on Happiness | Robert Waldinger | TED Talks

So let’s talk about a few things. Some are already pointed out in the comments, others are fresh and my own… Continue reading Thoughts on What Makes a Good Life and the Pursuit of Happiness

My First Columbus Crew Match

I’ve wanted to go to a Columbus Crew game since they were formed in 1994, but it’s been the last two years as my interest in the sport itself has grown that I’ve really wanted to go, so I basically count the last two years or so of wanting to go as the real deal. Two years of wanting to go and not being able to for a variety of reasons, mostly work related. If I had the time off work, I had the kids and a two plus hour trip each way with young kids… If I didn’t have all those, it was normally really bad weather (as in thunderstorms in the area) or I just didn’t have the funds, and on occasion forgot or was busy with other things, a chance to to some board gaming with the local board game group, an important video game beta test, or whatever, including important things like spending time with loved ones. The point is, for a couple years I’ve really wanted to go but things didn’t work out.

I sadly can’t even really watch the games on TV as my TV doesn’t get that channel. I’d need a cable box for that, and I already spend enough extra on the cable for much needed Internet speed improvements. I can’t use the MLS Live app or anything like that either since I live in an area where the service is available, it is blacked out locally. I did recently find a site that often has the games showing live, though the quality leaves much to be desired. Still better than nothing.

Fast forward to recent events. On Reddit there is a sub-reddit called The Massive. There one of the users gives away extra tickets to the game, and as a bonus they are in the supporter’s section called The Nordecke (for fans of American Football, think of the Dawg Pound for the Browns). I entered, thinking there was little chance of winning, but in the end won anyhow. I finally was going to get to not only see a Columbus Crew match, but it was going to be perfect weather, there were going to be fireworks after the match as it was the 4th of July, and as an extra bonus I’d be in the Nordecke. Hopefully someday I’ll get to pay it forward, and help somebody else who wants to go.

So after spending some time with a loved one, if a bit too little time, I made the three and a half hour trek to Mapfre stadium… Continue reading My First Columbus Crew Match

Warhammer 40,000: Conquest LCG Comes to OCTGN

I’ve previously mentioned that Fantasy Flight Games has a new Living Card Game (LCG) coming out called Warhammer 40,000: Conquest. Needless to say I’m pretty excited about it… Perhaps not as overly geeked out as I am over Imperial Assault (see previous story), but it was one of the games I was most excited for prior to GenCon (since then Abyss has slid down a bit and Five Tribes has moved up to just below Conquest and Imperial Assault for the post GenCon stuff). Anyhow, I can’t wait for it to come out.

Sadly, I don’t have a play group to play it with. I’m sure plenty of people at the Boardgamers of Greater Akron will be playing it, but it is a bit of a drive to Akron from where I am, and I don’t know anyone local who’s into LCGs. So being able to play the game over the Internet is always a sweet deal. Sure one could use Skype and just put the webcam on the table, but that requires a playlist of people to play with a much larger table than my desk, and a few other complications. Lucky for us, there are methods of playing LCGs, TCGs, CCGs, and other games over the Internet. For card games the two main platforms seem to be OCTGN and LackyCCG. This post will focus on the OCTGN plugin, but I know there is development ongoing for a LackyCCG plugin as well (by another person than the one who did the Conquest one). OCTGN is presently Windows only (though they mention they would like to do a Mac version and touch screen version eventually), while LackyCCG is multiplatform including Windows, Mac, Linux and iPad.

Before we continue, let me note that I am in no way involved with this project, either the LCG itself (although, FFG, if you want me…lol), OCTGN or the plugin being discussed below.

So what do you need? Continue reading Warhammer 40,000: Conquest LCG Comes to OCTGN

Resistance With Regular Playing Cards

The Resistance is one of the best games to play in a group. However sometimes you don’t have your deck with you but might have access to a deck of regular cards and the game is possible with a regular deck of cards. I’ll present some basic rule sets for playing the game with regular cards below…

The Resistance is a hidden role game for 5-10 players (it works best with 7-10). You can go over 10, but the rules presented here are for up to 10, and it becomes a bit more unwildy above 10, above 10 you are probably better moving to Werewolf, Mafia (a webcam version is popularized by Daily Mafia), Two Rooms and a Boom as they are better balanced for larger groups. Anyhow, as I was saying, it is a hidden role game. You are a member of the Resistance, fighting against an corrupt government. Each turn somebody becomes leader and decides who’s going on a mission to destroy the government. However, your group has been infiltrated by spies, who may sabotage the mission if they are on it. The number of spies depends on the number of players. If the Resistance makes 3 successful missions, they win, if the spies sabotage 3 missions they win. Continue reading Resistance With Regular Playing Cards

Present State of My Digital Card Game Playing

I’ve spoken before of the Digital LCGs, TCGs and the like that I’m wanting to play. A small update on some of those.

I am still not in the Hearthstone beta. Can’t comment too much on it outside of what I’ve seen. For the moment I’m digging Infinity Wars and Card Hunter until I can get in.

I actually got in the Infinity Wars beta after all. Very good game. However I’m stuck on one of the early missions (Warpath Campaign 2 for anyone interested in helping… if I’m still stuck when help comes). Here I am playing the game (the screen cap may say Offline Now, because I likely am offline from Twitch at the moment, but it was recorded there and rather than export it to YouTube I’ll leave it there for now, anyhow the video should work.):
Continue reading Present State of My Digital Card Game Playing

Digtial LCGs, TCGs and the Like of the Next Generation That I Want to Play

I’ve never been a Magic the Gathering player. I’ve had decks, but never really played.

Recently I’ve really gotten into Android Netrunner. In my opinion it is one of the best games for two people out there… but it isn’t digital… well not officially, you can play on a client called OCTGN, but for the most part you really need to be able to get to your local FLGS (favorite local game store) and play. My local FLGS in Akron, Underhill’s Games, has a weekly Netrunner event, but my car situation keeps me from making it like I would like…

Meanwhile I also have Lord of the Rings: LCG, which can be played solo… but again, not available digitally officially yet…

So digital card games are what I’ve been looking into.

The big one at the moment is Hearthstone, but that is in closed beta and I’m not in it yet, once I’m in I’ll report more and post up some videos. There are plenty of videos of it on YouTube and Twitch. Check it out. Blizzard, who made World of Warcraft, Diablo and the StarCraft (I need to get those for Ari) made this one. It seems very well done as one would expect from a first level developer like Blizzard… (Side note, I can’t wait to see Blizzard All Stars and Titan.) This is perhaps the big boy on the block, at least in the general public eye.

Infinity Wars is another big one out there in beta. I downloaded the client a few days ago, but didn’t make an account until today (Sept 1st), and sadly they just shut down beta invites… like had I signed up when I downloaded I probably could have got in, but now I’m on a 2-3 week wait. Again plenty of videos on YouTube and Twitch… to which I’ll be adding to for sure. As of the writing, they shut down new beta invites for 2-3 weeks. Had I tried to get in when I downloaded the client I probably would have been in already and making content for it…

Hex: Shards of Fate is perhaps one of the ones I’m most interested in seeing. It seems to be combining an MMO with a TCG. Yet again, closed alpha (not even beta yet). This one you can buy your way in, but I don’t know if I’m sold on the idea of buying in… I’m not clear yet on the MMO elements… what little I’ve seen seems to be just a next generation digital TCG, but I haven’t seen any of the PvE stuff yet. I’m very interested in the concept here at the very least.

SolForge I have on my iPad… I haven’t really used it yet though. I know lots of people are playing this while waiting to get in on the above.

There are a few others on the iPad that I’m not going to link to directly, but there’s Summoner Wars, Nightfall, and Ascension…

Of course Magic has its own digital version…

What I Would Have Done for the New Superman/Batman Movie

The way I imagined The Superman/Batman movie. Lex Luther (Bryan Cranston) reaches across the bay to Gothem’s richest citizen Bruce Wayne (now cast as Ben Affleck, though I didn’t have a casting choice in yet and I’m fine now with Affleck) in a voice of concern about this new caped crusader that nearly destroyed Metropolis in his battle with Zod (I didn’t mind the end of Man of Steel, Superman 2 had the same result, and in that one they laughed it off rather than Superman being upset about it). Batman comes over, they have a fight but they realize they are on the same time. Meanwhile Joker (no casting choices yet, I though about seeing if Mark Hamill would unretire his Joker, but this isn’t voice acting and Mark’s acting itself is what the question would be) along with my beloved Harley Quinn (also my beloved Katee Sackhoff ever since she started campaigning for it, though I might hold her off for a part in Justice League) starts causing havoc across both cities. Batman and Superman, not friends exactly, but working on the same side fight their common enemy, in the end finding that Luthor is the one pulling the strings and encouraged Joker, Luthor has something bigger planned… roll credits, tease Justice League (which is where Katee might be better cast as Wonder Woman, a tough roll to cast, Eliza Dushku would be possible, but doesn’t really fit the role as well physically, but perhaps that would be more the point).

This Is Water – Your Must Watch Video of the Moment

If you watch only one video anytime soon, then this is perhaps the one.

From the video description: In 2005, author David Foster Wallace was asked to give the commencement address to the 2005 graduating class of Kenyon College. However, the resulting speech didn’t become widely known until 3 years later, after his tragic death. It is, without a doubt, some of the best life advice we’ve ever come across, and perhaps the most simple and elegant explanation of the real value of education.
We made this video, built around an abridged version of the original audio recording, with the hopes that the core message of the speech could reach a wider audience who might not have otherwise been interested. However, we encourage everyone to seek out the full speech (because, in this case, the book is definitely better than the movie).
-The Glossary

The Hobbit At 48 FPS

I finally got to see The Hobbit today at the local theater in the High Frame Rate, 48fps 3D the way Peter Jackson filmed it and intended it to be seen. A bit about the movie… it’s a great movie and a must see, I’ll speak more about the movie in a bit.

The big news about the movie is that Peter Jackson filmed the movie at 48 frames per second…
Continue reading The Hobbit At 48 FPS

Insane Amount of Video Game Posts

Looking over all my old posts, there have been an insane amount of video game posts… of course there hasn’t been much else going on in my life really, and most of my friends/family are on my Facebook anyhow for the more random odd things… I keep saying I should update this more often and never get to it… 🙂

I Hated Gym Class

Like many geeky non athletic type people, I hated gym. Add social awkwardness, thanks Aspergers, thanks, being shy to go with that lack of athletic ability and the schoolyard pick really diminishes one’s self esteem. I hated dodge ball the most, but that is another topic for another day.

Today I am going to raise my suggestion for an alternative to gym at the high school level, or at least somebody do a good video series (more on that later). I think it is important to keep gym part of the daily routine in primary/elementary school and middle school, more on those later, but in high school where you should only need 2 years worth to graduate, I think it is time to add alternatives beyond the regular gym that everyone can take. You can take 2 years of regular gym, or 3 years of the coming suggested alternate classes, or split it, 1 year of regular gym and 2 of the alternates, so there is a bonus to taking regular gym in that it takes less time.
Continue reading I Hated Gym Class