Topic: The Chit Chat Thread

Another fun one

@Kidfried I like reading your thoughts there and I agree on your points about the two services and the potential effects on smaller games being gobbled up by larger AAA games. So I too feel that the Sony approach to the PS+ service is more in harmony with a healthy industry - a place for smaller titles to flourish and smaller studios to have the option for less risk if they take a guaranteed contract to release on the service, and yet larger big-budget games will still have a place in the market to make their millions.

However my prediction is that the GamePass approach with expensive AAA game launches on the service won’t last. I don’t think it will endure to the point that the smaller creators will be pushed out of the service by large studio creations. A lot of that prediction is dependent upon what happens with ABK and COD, but if things continue as they are now, I think I agree with J Ryan that this model is not sustainable in the long run. Microsoft can take large losses for a while but eventually they will owe it to their shareholders to correct course and modify the program, as we’re already seeing them charge GamePass subscribers for early access to Starfield. In a way it’s already one step closer to what Sony is doing, except that “early access” is about 1 year early — $70 to play their games a year early vs. $35 to play their games 5 days early.

I think if the deal goes through, it does change things and MS can survive with their current model for a while because of the huge COD money that will trickle in from PS players, but if the deal is axed then they will need to course-correct and do something to directly monetize their big budget games like Starfield and Elder Scrolls, whether it be charge for early access, release special deluxe versions, launch with lots of MTX, or something.

@TheBrandedSwordsman
Hi! Sorry for the late reply, I don't visit so often. Very much into the painting miniatures, yes. I haven't had any games of chess for quite some time. But I do get to use play various tabletop games using the miniatures, which tend to require quite a bit of turn based strategy so that's a great result for me , I feel.
Still working your way through Elden Ring?

I hope everyone in Scotland enjoyed the parades today! 😉

@KAIRU It sounds like a funny thing when you say it like that but it’s a profoundly terrifying prospect growing up in a city with marches every July actively calling for your community to be murdered in their thousands. We make fun of it but from the outside looking in, it must seem rather mad to just accept that every year you have to stay indoors several weekends in case a mob of nutters smell the Catholic off you.

@nessisonett Guess you may stay in then.

@KAIRU It should be banned, crazy that you can march about celebrating murdering people.

@nessisonett @KAIRU Sounds like something out of The Purge films!

So I find it very interesting that there is so many games today, even modern ones which I feel are very underappreciated or basically unknown to most people.. Even among gamers.. Its really feel like almost all games deserves a community of its own. On another note it fleet very cool that I today learned a 50 year old lady to play Chinese checkers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_checkers). She had never played that board game before but seemed really delighted to learning it. Felt so glad that I had the chance to learn her a little bit about the game at least.

I guess it has something to do with there are like a few franchises that are so big today that it is also easy to miss out on many games..

@oliverp Yes we are spoiled for choice. Which ones in particular are you thinking of?

Soooo, the flat above us has sprung a leak.

It's 10pm and they aren't home. Any tips? We've stuck a note through their door, do we just wait for them to come home?

I guess we can't call our own landlord/letting agent as we don't have their number/they are not open respectively. Even then, it's not like they have anything to do with the flat above us so far as we know.

It's tripped our breaker switch and we don't have any lighting. Not a major issue because we have lamps on a different breaker, just no ceiling lights.

It's not leaking heavily yet. It was coming out of a wall light fitting in the bathroom which tripped the breaker initially. An hour or 2 later, it's made a damp patch on the wall in our bedroom (opposite side to that wall light) and small drips have appeared on the bathroom ceiling and on the door frame of our boiler cupboard - it's obviously leaking through the walls and ceiling from the adjacent bathroom/boiler cupboard upstairs

Is it just a waiting game or does anyone know of anything we can do in the meantime?

Update: they've come home and turned their water off so hopefully it all dries out and we can have our lights back tomorrow!

@ralphdibny I would definitely contact your landlord to let them know, as they will need to see about who is paying for repairing any damage done.

@JohnnyShoulder cheers, have just submitted something through the letting agents online repair portal to keep them updated on the situation!

Jesus I come on here to avoid work, thought I was looking at my inbox for a minute!!

@RogerRoger cheers, yeah I'll see what they say! It doesn't look too bad but obviously got no idea what it looks like inside the walls/ceiling. Luckily because the power tripped, we were alerted immediately and could mop up and clean stuff so shouldn't have too much staining at least.

@kyleforrester87 you coming round to have a butchers? 😆🤣

@ralphdibny Just fire her up, if she holds she's good, if she trips get the hairdryer out - it's all an electrician will do lol

These things often look worse than they are, good time of year to have a leak ultimately, and it getting through a light fitting is better than it soaking into walls and ceilings.

@kyleforrester87

Cheers, well I've got the dehumidifiers running at the moment. Will probably check it again later.

Thankfully doesn't look too bad anyway, just no lights. But the plugs still working so we can light it up with lamps at least!

@ralphdibny We had a leak from the upstairs bathroom but luckily that mostly came through a light fitting. There was an amazing amount of water from what was a very small leak but it had all gathered in the glass shade below and then eventually got too heavy and smashed down on floor. As most of the water had gone that way it was just a case of drying everything out and then doing a bit of patching up of the paintwork and buying a new light fitting. You can always use a dehumidifier if you've got one as that will speed up the drying process.

Edit: ignore the dehumidifier bit as it's a bit redundant now based on your previous post 😂