Selling a bunch of Steam games from last month's Humble Bundle for Paypal.

11-11 Memories Retold: $0.50

Evergarden: $0.50

Shenmue I & II: $3

SYNTHETIK: Legion Rising: $0.50

Keys:

Last Horizon: $0.25

Potatoman Seeks the Troof: $0.25

thing1 : "How do you combat your dog that sheds?"

I suggest not using violence

Brushing and vacuuming was pretty much what we did. We didn't have any fancy shampoo or anything that would take away the shedding. What shampoo we used might have helped...I mean, I didn't really know.

But it was nice being able to brush my dog. I mean, she endured it pretty well. She was pretty patient with us.

Donald Duck? I'm not sure that counts as hand-to-hand combat...

I tried my hand at beating DQII on mobile a while back. It was very dated, very grindy, and without a lot of compelling story. I couldn't bring myself to finish it.

You could say I am a member of the Furry community, and you would be right. I read a number of Furry comics regularly and participate somewhat in the communities. However, I do not have a fursona and have no plans to ever have one. I want to be content with the body I have right now. And how can I do that if I spend so much time pretending I have a different one? It’s not that I wouldn’t like a furry body or even a fursona. But I just don’t have it as a priority. The main reason I follow the comics I do isn’t because they’re Furry comics. It’s because the content of the comics is so good, that it makes them worthwhile reads. Comics like Scurry and Furry Experience feature relatable storylines with great characters. Scurry features art that is so polished and vibrant, it might be considered by many to be the most “artful” webcomic our there (although the Wormworld Saga gives it a run for its money). There are other comics I follow (and others I’ve tried out), but there are a number I won’t follow because of the content. I recognize a lot of the Furry fandom focuses on sex. I won’t attempt to percentagize it here, but it is enough that I am careful about even what comics I click on.

But I don’t just follow Furry comics. There is this one movie I saw (thanks to the creator of “Furry Experience”) that brought tears to my eyes, it was so good. Like, Pixar good. I’m going to leave it here.

https://youtu.be/5Zqmt1H35fs

So I haven't been around much lately. I've been trying to balance my life better, and I haven't done a very good job of it. This has taken me away from here, and I haven't even gotten basic jobs done. I went out the other day with the family to an event and I was STRESSED OUT. I broke down. But it caused me to realize something: I've been stretching myself too thin over too many things.

I have been expecting too much of myself in too many areas, and I have at times either taken too much or too little "me time". I need to find that balance!!

I'll be here for you guys. I'm going to do a better job from now on. I see better what I need to do. But I need to cut some things out of my life (or reduce them) so I can do just that.

If I'm stressed out and overwhelmed, I shut down. I don't want to shut down, and in order to do that, I need to see progress in my life. I'm back, and as I work towards good goals, I hope I'll be able to do better work for you guys.

Thanks for being patient with me.

There is something to be said about "oversimplifying". That is, the process of making things so seemingly simple in the short run that the long run is thrown out of wack. There are those that this law would benefit, and there are those it would hurt, and who knows which is best?

One thing we can say for sure: There ought not to be such a disparity between the rich and the poor. All people ought to prosper, and while personal prosperity is determined by the individual, richness itself often is not. Billionaires ought not to hold onto their billions for long. They ought to use that money for the good of mankind. All those with money are obligated to help those who do not.

Help isn't "spoiling" someone, though. To simply handout money and not require someone to learn personal responsibility is to deprive them of opportunities for personal success. Anyone can eat a gourmet meal. Not anyone can make one. But even so, that so much money is concentrated into the hands of a few men (largely) is troubling. How can someone learn to invest, how can someone choose what to spend their money on if they don't have money? How can someone enjoy those gourmet meals if they cannot afford them, whether it be the ingredients or labor involved or both?

It's not OK that so many are impoverished because of not having money. The world has plenty and to spare! So much food goes to waste because it is not given to someone who needs it or even wants it! There are benefits to a consumerist society, but too few if we don't take care of the needy. What use is it to have consumable goods if they are not consumed?

The solution is easier than we might suppose, but it will take millions of little actions, accumulated day by day. Simply raising the pay for people who have or will get jobs isn't enough. We must require those with power and money to give more, to be put into a position where they must give, or they will hold onto their money and their consumables in the pursuit of more, even if a large portion of that goes to waste. And most of all, those who are most rich ought to be the ones who give the most, without being compelled by a government or a person or a reason that ought to agree with them in the first place!

Mecha Leo :

Nitrome was my jam back in the day. I don’t keep up with them much anymore, but they had a lot of fresh concepts, or at least existing concepts presented in new ways. I’ve played one or two of their mobile games, and they ought to be mentioned.

There are too many shovelware games. Too many cash grabs. Too many games that are just plain terrible!

Many people argue today that mobile is "filled" with such games. In a sense, they are right. There are a lot of games that are out there to get your money, with perhaps little thought put into making an enjoyable experience. Games like Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire and World War Rising are built upon the same framework, with both games being boring timesinks that beg for your money through irritating popups. Some might say the games have no actual gameplay.

But what of the other end?

The other end exists and may be more visible and prominent than the former.

Consider the two major platforms for mobile gaming: The Play Store and the App Store. Each displays, primarily, games that are curated for your experience. The games you see most visibly are not merely the most popular: They are often highly rated and well-received.

But one store does this better than the other: The App Store. The iOS App Store doesn't put a hundred games in your face at once. It puts a focus on choice games, games that are sometimes higher quality than those displayed in their competitors' storefront. This isn't to say of itself that one store is inherently better than the other. But on iPhone, the more popular games are often more directed, in a sense, to be the higher quality ones. An overall less add-ridden and intrusive experience is on iOS, and this sometimes comes at the cost of higher prices.

But this says little of the quality of the games themselves. It is true that many of the more popular games are not the most fun or enlightening. But let's take a look at some of the most popular games on iOS.

Paid: Minecraft comes in at #1. Heads Up, #2. Plague, Inc. #3. The first game is an innovative, groundbreaking (cough) puzzle-platformer, with a lot of focus on creativity. The second is a party game that is a ton of fun. The third is a sort of strategy game that tasks you with destroying the world...through disease.

Free: #1 is Color Bump 3D. Won't win any awards for its name, but appears to be a fun game about avoiding colored obstacles. Polysphere is #2, a game about aligning shapes into a singular, larger object. Third is "Words Story", a game that appears to have achieved its status as a sort of meme game. Each game is free. Each game has ads and IAPs, some that will set you back quite a bit.

The Paid section has games that break boundaries. The Free section has three games with concepts that either have been done before/similarly or have severe potential hampers to their enjoyability. This is part of a larger trend. But let's consider the better part of the trend.

Consider the Editor's Choice games on the App Store. A large number of these are paid games. These games are "hand-picked" as games that excel in some way or another. Games like Old Man's Journey or Monument Valley or Gorogoa are puzzle games that task you with changing your perspective in unique ways. Dandara, Oddmar and FEZ are platformers that each have unique "hooks" that make them magnificent. Supergiant's Bastion and Transistor are there, too, both games that pushed narrative boundaries and meshed them with great gameplay.

There are more and more games following trends like these on mobile. In addition, there are console to mobile ports of old games (Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasies), there are ports of newer games (Monster Hunter Stories, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite), there are games launching on mobile first before heading to console (Layton's Mystery Journey), and more! We are getting an influx of great original games as well as ports of already great games.

There once was a time when Angry Birds and Cut the Rope were considered groundbreaking games, and let's face it, they were. They were at the cutting edge at the time of their release, and while they are still great games, there are many, many great games that have risen to meet them. While we may lament that mobile is filled with "trash", we have to admit that there are plenty of great games on there as well.

I think it’s likely a money thing. LEGO made a deal with WB/DC and “The LEGO Batman Movie” was in talks before “The LEGO Movie” became a blockbuster success. It’s about the partnership that makes financial sense, and having both Marvel and DC characters in the same movie might not have been legally possible due to licensing disputes.

A Marvel and LEGO partnership is still a thing, and I think it’s likely it still will be for a long time.

I usually stay away from the sugary options. I dunno the science of it, but nonsugared gum seems to last longer. It has a more pleasant mouth feel to me, as well.