Now

Next up: #mazes and #puzzles

I can’t believe I got this nice burn set up and never got a single burn skill. #TheBazaar

So I stumbled my way to my first Perfect Victory with Pyg. The Restorative Matchbox was a really good start. Some luck got me a second Matchbox. And then my first Ice Luge came along. I just burned and healed through everything. #TheBazaar

Obsidian Flagship, equals Double Damage (×2). 125% Crit Chance (again, ×2). And then, the cherry on the cake, the skill I didn’t even know existed: Big Guns, double the damage of your large items (another ×2). In summary I had Octo Damage on the Flagship. In the last encounter, with some haste, this lead to 5.152 damage within the first 1.8 seconds. Impressive.

I think this is my first 10-win-run on Ranked. Restaurative Power Drill + Deadly Solar Farm. Boring, but effective.

Ok. That is enough of The Bazaar for the moment. Gotta start playing something else …

What?! I was overpowered and still could not get 10 wins?! I mean: Fiery Power Drill + Rocket Launcher + Moth to a Flame skill + Knife Tricks skill + Conflagration skill. I never had such a good combination. I guess, I needed some Haste. #TheBazaar

I finally decided to use my 60+ tickets and try Ranked again. I can’t believe I stumbled the landing with this Toxic Langxian. Oh wait, I can believe it, a Power Drill with freeze denied me my last win. Of course. Another item that needs to get nerfed. #TheBazaar

Overpowered double Matchbox. That items needs a nerf. But at least I tried the Subscraper for once. #TheBazaar

Thanks to an unhealthy amount of nostalgia and FOMO my vast collection of stuff now includes these three Omnibus Sized Darkwing Duck Hardcover graphic novel volumes.

Nice to have? Sure. Worth the price tag? Not after the Kickstarter campaign increased shipping costs from 30 to 72 dollars.

Well, you live, you learn.

#graphicnovels #darkwingduck #comics

Wow. Until now I never picked those lame Volcanic Vents. But the Fiery starter skill was a very good argument for it. The Draconic Rage skill is also ludacris. My second Perfect Victory. #TheBazaar

Finally got a decent flagship build working in »The Bazaar«. That last encouncter was quite satisfying. But now that I got my win, I think I'll avoid the flagship in the next few days. It is too straightforward, 

What a photo finish. That Shielded Lion Cane one shotted my last opponent. I should have gotten rid of the matchbox a few days earlier. But, whatever, I still won.

God, I hate words like this one.

Wordle 1.370 X/6

⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩

Uh, I would have hated to fight against this build. That Fiery Monitor Lizard stacked poison and burn to new heights. #TheBazaar

One of my very rare wins with Pygmalien. I never had this much life before. That gave my Toxic Double Whammy a lot of extra damage. #TheBazaar

Buhuu. I was so sure that this Rocket Launcher could get me ten wins … #TheBazaar

Damn! I was so sure that the Restorative Haladie would take me from start to finish. I just got a bit unlucky with the end game enchantments.

That lucky healing pufferfish saved me multiple times in the last few days.

The most outrageous perfect victory I ever claimed. That golden Augmented Weaponry was OP right from the start. The Gatling Gun rarely fired a second time.

Mickey 17

spoilerfrei (nix, was über den Trailer hinausgeht)

Ja, schade. Bei einem Film von Bong Joon-ho, basierend auf einem der besten Science-Fiction-Bücher von 2022 hätte man ja was erwarten können. Aber das ist leider nur lauwarmes Mittelmaß. Der eigentliche Plot ist todlangweilig. Die Figuren von Mark Ruffalo und Toni Collette sind völlig überzogen. Passend für eine Farce, nur passt das nicht zum Rest vom Film. Das hätte man auch intelligenter hinbekommen können. Die meisten anderen Figuren sind auch nur einfach … da. Allein Robert Pattinson hält den Film am Leben. Der Rest ist Grütze.

Aus dem Ansatz hätte man aber durchaus was machen können. Einfach das Buch ignorieren. Und stattdessen einen Film über Expendables und Multiples auf der Erde. Mit verschiedenen Charaktereigenschaften. Und mehr ethischem Dilemma. Die Themen blitzen im Film zweimal auf, und man sieht, dass da mehr zu holen wäre. Aber nein, Chance vertan.

Ich gebe 9 von 17 Klonen.

Ich bin übrigens der einzige aus unserer Gruppe von fünf Leuten, dem der Film nicht gefallen hat. Und bei Rotten Tomatoes sind 79% of 217 Kritiker-Reviews positiv. Aber nee, Bong Joon-ho hat sich schlicht das falsche Buch ausgesucht.

And just when I complain about the Bazaar I get a perfect victory. Maybe there is a pity timer?

Wow, putting Monopoly, Scrabble, Battleship, and Clue(do) in a list of »The 10 best board games of all time« is basically saying: »I have no idea what I am writing about.«
To be fair: The »best board games« are only there to give the ads some distance. But still, what a lazily researched article.

https://www.destructoid.com/the-10-best-board-games-of-all-time/

Personal snapshot: I am having a terrible time in the Bazaar (still in closed Beta).

• By the end of 2024 I struggled to get 10 wins. Now I can’t even get 4.
• Sure, I was absent for a few weeks. But when I come back I don’t want to again spend days to understand what is going on. For me, it is no fun to get beaten down for a day or two just to get back into the game.
• There is still too much hidden knowledge. Just now I had to look up what Shiny meant. With most monsters I don’t know which rewards I can get. When I have the chance to upgrade I often don’t see the expected results before.
• Why am I pitted against players who are one or two days ahead of me?
• Why do only ten wins count as win?

There are lots of deck builders out there I have far less struggle to get back into. Maybe there should be some kind of pity counter for better rewards or something. Or this is just not the right game to come casually back to.
Guess I’ll try again next month.

I was thinking about giving #Avowed a try this weekend. But after watching this video I installed #Skyrim instead. #videogames

Just proposed a session for #Drupal Dev Days in Leuven, Belgium on 15-18 April 2025. This time around my session is focused on #Accessibility.
https://www.drupalcamp.be/drupal-dev-days-2025

The Nameless King … I gave up on my first playthrough in 2020. But nearly five years later, and after surely 100+ attempts altogether, I finally beat the shittiest enemy in all the SoulsWorlds. I hate, hate, hate this fight. #DarkSouls3 #noskill

Now playing: Slicing my way through Lothric for the fourth time. Beat Yhorm (despite weapon switching), Sulyvahn, Aldrich and Dancer on the first attempt. Finally some skill. #DarkSouls3

Tzz. Dragonslayer Armour on the first attempt as well. Last time I had serious trouble and respecced for posion. Even Albert, Kamui, and Kriemhild went down in one smooth go. I am having a run – until I meet the brothers, I guess.

Now playing … well, playing is a bit too generous. Let’s say: Now walking through »Thank Goodness You’re Here!«. What a strange little game. Incredibly weird. Well animated. Funny. It just lacks some engaging gameplay. #videogames #indiegames

If you are into indie games I have some candidates for your wishlist – because of glorious graphics, an interesting art style, intriguing mechanics, a healthy dose of nostalgia, or just over-the-top weirdness. #videogames #indiegames
https://talesof.me/en/2025/hyped-for-videogames

I am finally back in the blog game. After an unnecessarily long odyssey from Drupal to … Drupal?
https://talesof.me/en/2025/a-new-home

Today’s launch of #Drupal CMS is accompanied by several Launch Parties all over the world. The launch stream starts at 16:45 Berlin time.
May I interest you in a corresponding Drupal CMS Launch Bingo? Play here: textformer.de/drupalbingo/

It’s impressive how Returnal has managed to be even more annoying than all of the FromSoftware games I’ve played. But at long last I have beaten the final boss. After 52 hours and 107 deaths.

Die Drupal User Group Ruhr lädt euch zur Launchfeier des #Drupal CMS am 15.01. ein! Seid faul, bleibt zu Hause & schaut euch online mit uns den Stream an.

Wir bieten eine Experten-Runde, die live kommentiert. Und garnieren die Aktion mit einer Runde Drupal-Bingo.

https://www.drupal.org/community/events/dug-ruhr-%E2%80%93-drupal-cms-launch-party-2025-01-15

Jesus! Biome 5 in Returnal is a bitch! But after a lot of swearing (and some luck) I finally made it through. One of the most annoying game areas ever. 

Und hier noch – ungefragt – die 15 schlechtesten Filme, die ich in diesem Jahr gesehen habe.
In vielen Fällen weiß man nach dem Trailer schon, dass man hier nichts erwarten kann. Also stellt man sich auf unteres Niveau ein – und ist trotzdem enttäuscht.

1. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) – Jaja, Klassiker. I don’t care. Ich kann die Hauptfigur nicht ausstehen.
2. The Purge (2013) – Warum hat der Schrott so viele Fortsetzungen bekommen?
3. Venom 2: Let there be Carnage (2021) – Woody Harrelson als Carnage ist so eine unglaubliche Fehlbesetzung! Und alles andere ist auch schlimm. Hat trotzdem über 500 Millionen US-Dollar eingespielt.
4. Venom 3: The last dance (2024)
5. Polar (Netflix Original Film, 2019)
6. The Union (Netflix Original Film, 2024)
7. Atlas (Netflix Original Film, 2024)
8. The Predator (2018)
9. Robin Hood (2018) – Nominated for three Razzies for Worst Remake, Worst Supporting Actor for Jamie Foxx, and Worst Picture.
10. The Beekeeper (2024) – Ich hatte dazu eine Kritik gelesen nach dem Motto »Der ist schlecht, aber …«. Nix aber, der ist einfach nur schlecht.
11. The Bricklayer (2024) – Aaron Eckhart schafft es eindrucksvoll, »The Beekeeper« zu unterbieten.
12. Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire (Netflix Original Film, 2023) – Der hat es am Ende doch noch geschafft, nicht in den Top 3 zu landen. Bemerkenswert.
13. The Gray Man (Netflix Original Film, 2022) – Chris Evans spielt einen der lächerlichsten Bösewichte, die ich in diesem Jahr gesehen habe.
14. X – The Movie (Anime, 1996) – Der taucht in einigen Best-Anime-Listen auf. Da gehört er aber nicht rein.
15. The Substance (2024) – Eine rein subjektive Wertung. Dieser Film wird bei anderen Leuten in den Top 10 auftauchen. Der hat ein paar gute Einstellungen und Farben. Aber in der zweiten Hälfte habe ich festgestellt, dass ich Body Horror hasse!

The five games I had the most fun with in 2024:

1. Another Crab’s Treasure (soulslike under the sea)
2. The Bazaar (deck/hero-building auto-battler)
3. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (surreal puzzle game)
4. Animal Well (puzzle plattformer)
5. Balatro (roguelike deck-building poker)

Wow. The only thing I like about this first Superman trailer is a glimpse of Mister Terrific.