BaconHound

@yothatlimp: I'm also planning on using this as an opportunity to try some tools/techniques that I haven't used before. No real plans though - just a picture in my head, some scribbled ideas, and a few spare boards that I already had on hand. If all goes well, my toddler will be able to reach the sink more easily. Worst case - some extra firewood.

I'd be up for it. I worry that maybe I won't have time, but perhaps having a specific project and deadline will help me carve out a Saturday afternoon in the garage.

Another vote for Black Hawk Down here. The book was outstanding as well.

I also liked Tears of the Sun.

I don't know that there's a RIGHT answer to this question, as illustrated by the responses above. There's just too much room for opinion on what "feels right" and what kind of loot is satisfying.

Personally, I'm a fan of Borderlands. I love those games, and I think the loot is fantastic and the shooting is loads of fun.

^I've seen this conversation come up a number of times too, and every time, there are a handful of folks saying things like "give me a reason to use the service" or "make the product worth using."

The exclusives are that reason. What am I getting out of using Epic? Access to Borderlands 3.

Missing features are frequently called out as a reason for not using Epic. Some people complain that if Epic only had better features, they'd use it. I don't buy it. I'll be the first to admit that if a game is available on both platforms (even with equivalent features), I'd be buying on Steam. It's what I'm used to and it's where I have most of my games.

So what else can Epic do to attract customers? Give away free games? They're already doing that. I honestly can't think of any features or storefront enhancements that would convince me to buy a game from Epic that is also available on Steam. The obvious answer is to buy exclusivity, and that's what they're doing.

It doesn't bother me in the slightest, for the record.

@jesus_phish: Well put.

I am incredibly excited for more Borderlands. I don't need character customization, flashy photo-realistic graphics, or any of the other things that some folks seem worked up about. Just give me some new environments, a new campaign, and plenty of new guns, and I will be absolutely delighted.

As soon as I read the thread title, I thought of the horse track in GTA V. I don't play online, so maybe it's used for something there, but in the single-player game, there's just nothing. I don't remember ever going there as part of a mission, there are no NPCs wandering around, and there's nothing really interesting to find, do, or look at. In a game so filled with detail in nearly every other corner of the world, I've always thought this was strange. Maybe it was for some piece of content that was never finished, or a last minute bit of filler to take up some empty space... who knows?

Regarding the sister's apparent change of opinion on video games, that sounds understandable to me.

It sounds cliche, but having a child changes a person's life and perspectives. For years, I thought that when I had a kid I'd be showing him video games and trading controllers back and forth, etc. I had a great deal of fun playing games with my nephew, and I naturally assumed I'd do the same with my own child.

My son is two now and I have no interest in showing him any of that. I'm delighted that he has little to no interest in TV, movies, or "screens" in general. I think it's fantastic that he thinks phones are only for talking to people. I love to hear him say he wants to go outside or read a book, and I'm thrilled at the opportunity to show him new things out in the world.

As others have pointed out, video games have changed. I certainly still enjoy them, but a) I don't have nearly as much free time as I used to have, and b) a larger and larger percentage of games are actively pushing me away with "games as a service" nonsense and/or microtransactions. I want no part of that stuff, and I certainly don't want my child to be marketed to and/or monetized by a flavor-of-the-week, free-to-play piece of garbage software.

All that said, I'm not delusional. WHEN the day comes that my son wants to play games, I'll be happy and excited to play with him. We'll probably start with some classics on a Raspberry Pi and move up slowly to appreciate the improved complexity. He'll probably have an allotted amount of screen time per day, and a new console for Christmas wouldn't be out of the question. I don't think I'll ever be a "no games in the house" person, but I can certainly understand and appreciate the position of somebody who is.

I'm not sure why forgot password wouldn't work to claim the account as your own. I went through that this morning and didn't have any trouble. When I contacted support about changing the account name, they confirmed that from their point of view, the e-mail owner is the account owner. Maybe contact them to see if they can help?

I thought I'd try signing up and installing the launcher just to give this service a shot, and I'm already irritated. It turns out that some dildo already set up an account with my e-mail address. I was able to use the forgot password feature, change the password, updated my "display name," and add two-factor authentication...but it seems like I'm stuck with the account name that was originally set up? I have a ticket into support to see if that can be resolved. If not, I guess I'm already done with this thing.

I really, REALLY hate when services allow somebody to sign up without an e-mail verification. It's the absolute worst when it's a service that I eventually want to use myself.

edit: Very quick response from support, and it was my misunderstanding - the account name in the launcher didn't refresh when I changed the display name. All appears to be in order now, and I'm curious to see how this compares with Steam.