I'm under lockdown in MA - please chat and distract me

I live one block away from where over 1000 state and federal officials are staged and looking for the second Boston Marathon bombing suspect and the other was killed overnight. Nobody can enter or leave the area. Nobody can go outside their homes, and all businesses are closed. Cell service is overloaded and crashing at times. I will go nuts if I just watch the news all day and Facebook has turned into all news. But I like video games and Giant Bomb.

So... hey everyone. What's new? Have some suggestions about good games to download on Steam since I'm now on a weekend of indeterminate length? Anything else random that can serve as a distraction? What's your favorite color?

Stay safe over there.

In the meantime, read through this Star Trek blog devoted to critiquing the fashion choices of the show. Surprisingly hilarious.

Azure green is my favorite color! As for games I would go on some massive RPG quest like Skyrim right now I think.

Be strong, can't imagine how it is being there right now..

I like black and purple!

Maybe try out Warframe? It's a co-op third person shooter that's kinda structured like PSO I've been playing it nearly constantly for the past two weeks.

Go grab some new mods for your favorite Bethesda RPG and start a new character.

They should make a wrestling game that's merely about hitting your spots and cutting promos and arguing with management about your character direction. The only way to jump from the midcard to the marquee is to do a face/heel turn!

@nictel: Azure green is pretty good, but I prefer a slightly darker green.

@brodehouse: So turn VGCW into its own game? Regardless, I think I am going to watch some of that nonsense since I never got around to it.

Discover some new music. Last.fm seems to do me a good job of suggesting similar artists.

Try out some o' them indie games. Browse some old Worth Readings.

Sign up for Netflix or something. At least try a month, I keep it around for Futurama, IT Crowd, and Breaking Bad.

Revisit some of your old games, if you got 'em. Go on a trip down memory lane. Vagrant Story for me.

Try something different. Maybe see if you can cook something with what you've got. Pick up a paper and pencil, see if you can improve your drawing skills.

Take a nap once in a while. Cash-in on some of that sleep debt. Why not?

Plan what you're gonna do when you get back out. Seriously, this can be fun. "I'M FREE BITCHESSSS!!!" Maybe some lasagna is in order. Or maybe you should just make some time to sit on a park bench, in quiet dusk, slowly gazing at your surroundings. Arrange a meet up with your local homies who were locked up too, maybe?

Dig up one of those things that you meant to get around to, but you haven't. Like that book, move, game that you bought, because you thought it sounded really cool at the time but forgot because of life's distractions. We've all got some of those, right?

If you're a guy, see how far your beard can grow.

Get some cleaning done. Word.

Wouldn't suggest drinking. There're probably better ways to savor your time off.

Do something ridiculous in the privacy of your own home. Like wearing a clean pair of underpants on my head while I went along with my business.

Improve your words-per-minute. There are a TON of typing tests out there on the internets. Might I suggest Z-Type?

That's about all the not-so-directly-related-to-games activities I could muster for now. Hope you manage to enjoy your extended weekend, even if it is going to take some effort.

You could try out the Guild Wars 2 free weekend that's going on. As an MMO it's an easy way to kill time if you get into it.

@paul_tillich: This is a good shout, try http://www.giantbomb.com/guild-wars-2/3030-21223/forums/free-gw2-trial-weekend-april-19-21-1431944/#22 for a trial code and then if you end up playing join Giant Bomb's guild Lincoln Force on the Yak's Bend server.

Watch the Red Letter Media reviews of the Star Wars prequels. about 3 or 4 hours in total and very funny.

im under lockdown as well. i think sleep is probably the best option.

I got a free weekend key. So I guess I'll find out what Guild Wars 2 is like.

Best advice: Turn off the TV.

Also locked in, although I have been all week anyway since I live within the initial crime scene (Boylston St). Mostly just working from home.

@paul_tillich: Guild Wars 2 is pretty cool. Once you get into it you will find that the time will fly by. It's a good time eater.

@ikabubu: Thanks for the good suggestions. I am strangely loving z-type at the moment.

You could watch The Siege.

If you're going to watch some VGCW, watch the playlists uploaded by YouTube user VGCWClem. He's got the episodes as far back as mid-season 2 (season 4 just started the other night, but each season is a few episodes), all organized into playlists, with the chat recorded. I feel like you'd be missing out on a lot of what makes VGCW so compelling if you watched without seeing the chat go completely bananas every time something happens.

Most of my coworkers are stuck in lockdown, so I'm covering for them today. gotta love them 9 and a half hour work days! But, it seems like it might be over by lunch time. Who knows?

Hope you stay safe, maybe you should try to catch up on a show you've meant to watch. That certainly passes the time.

I'd also recommend watching old Giant Bomb content. I recently discovered the magic that is the Whiskey Media Happy Hour.

Also, here's the Unarchived Retro Gaming Marathon. Hope this helps pass the time. Sorry if you've already seen them, but most of GB's content is worth watching more than once.

Loop this and place some DOTA 2.

Also under lockdown (Although I'm not really that close to downtown). Going to catch up on some podcasts, likely will make a drink in a bit.

At least most Dunkin Donuts are open for some reason?

Stay safe! These situations are perfect for TV show marathons. Maybe you want to rewatch the old Arrested Development episodes before the 4th season airs?

It's probably not a great idea to put the words "Boston" and "Giant Bomb" in the same post as the last thing you'll want is some FBI knocking in your door demanding to know where you've stashed the fertiliser.

Apart from that I guess you could count the Frosties in the bowl.

Take care over there, Shitty situation for sure. Guild Wars 2 is having a free weekend starting today, might be a good time to check that out, don't forget Unprofessional Fridays will start in just a bit, that's a light hearted way to spend a couple of hours.

go watch something on tv, play video games, instead of hearing about boston news. it's just terrible stuff there.

Geez. Whole city shut down to find one teenager. :(

If you're short on entertainment, head on over to speedrunslive.com. It's a wide variety of people speed running games on live stream every day all day all the time.

The situation seemed like it was going to end, did not, was dormant, and has just escalated as much as possible. But I really appreciate all your answers. I discovered some cool stuff I did not know existed. Keep it coming, as it is as frightening now as ever. Thanks...

*virtual hugs from Canada to Paul and all MA area peoples*

@herbiebug: Thanks! Your speed run link is one of the crazy things I found today. And I don't care if it is corny. Thanks for your virtual hugs, and many back to you.

NFL schedule for 2013 got released if you're into that sort of thing.

http://www.nfl.com/schedules

I guess Boston people have some sort of silver lining in that they get to play the Bills week 1.

@thepickle: Thanks for reminding me about sports. I'm actually a Packers fan (Bruins, Red Sox, and screw the NBA otherwise) but national sports talk could be a nice diversion since all the local sports stations have become news since nobody can get into their stations.

Have you tried Dota?

Stay safe.

They got him. Holy shit. Goodnight.

Hell yeah Packers! Glad your safe duder.