Weekend Games

The weekend was really productive for me. I didn't go out after all, since Saturday looked sporadically rainy, plus kind of chill. Even if it might make for some good photos, it's not really the weather I want to be tromping around in when I'm on the edge of a cold like I feel I am. Sleeping causes problems when I lay flat, so now my pillow is propped up with my cheaper comforter and, incidentally, I managed to get most of a nights sleep before work. The first thing I did on Saturday morning when I got up (after coffee) was write up a list of stuff I felt needed to get done, so the kitchen, bathroom, and house in general got pulled together over the course of the day.

Anyone checking my Facebook may recall my mop-related irritation, where I discovered that my roommate not only doesn't have a mop, but the swiffer floor thing she has doesn't have 1) batteries, 2) mats for cleaning, 3) cleaning solution. I settled for sweeping, but you can be sure I shook my fist to the heavens.

I managed to get an appreciable amount of Persona 3 time in, and I enjoy the time management issues in that adding a level of difficulty to the game that Atlus' grinding issue doesn't. Well, Atlus has a thing about random encounters and tough fights where the simplest solution is typically to level until the fights have more leeway. This is the opposite of my anti-grinding philosophy where I try to fight bosses well before the game assumes I am really qualified (except in FF Tactics, where my chief loves are the story and random battles, so I tend to crush fragile bosses beneath my booted heel). I got through Persona 2 and Digital Devil Summoners without too much trouble by exploiting the combat system, and it's basically the same in this one, so I'm not worried about my chances. Basically, I haven't been playing long, but I'm still having fun.

Fallout 3 still has a place on my roster, officially making it so that I've gotten way more out of the game then the person who bought it. My second playthrough was almost totally designed to get the Ninja perk just so that I could, and while specializing in Melee has been fun (and still pretty effective, all things considered), the Ninja perk really isn't as dramatic as the Death's Sprint one. When you've got maxed out gun perks combined with a Reservist's Rifle and you refill your VATS spectrum every time you off someone in the system, the air quickly becomes full of flying heads. I hesitate to imagine what that must look for those poor Enclave soldiers, when some goon in battered combat armor destroys an entire platoon of elite, power-armored troops from the neck up in the space of about a second. What finally stopped me wasn't the barrage of plasma they intended to send my way, but the fact that my rifle broke in mid-shot from a full repair.

I lacked the Exalted books I wanted to make full preperations for my next game, but I did get to play a small session of Burning Wheel over a combination of Skype and Cocinella. When we weren't drawing dongs on the whiteboard, that is. It is really gratifying to talk to friends I haven't seen in months or talk to in person. IM is good, but the tenor and type of conversation really changes. I wasn't in the same room as anyone, but it kind of felt like I was for a while.

My expenses for the last week consist primarily of utilities costs, which have gone up. Gas went up this month, which is basically what I've come to expect. I put off buying a table again, because I'm not comfortable spending when I've got other possible expenses coming up. I really think that my bed is going to be my next  purchase and I'm still not sure if I'm going to end up buying a new air mattress or if I'm going to end up buying the futon mattress. The air mattress is starting to show wear, since I'm not sure, but I don't think they're supposed to be used nightly for so long.