Vagabond Treehouse (2023) [Beware of Chicken 3 - December 4th] Showing 3,501-3,550 of 5,829

[Tonari no Emily]

I also started 12 Monkeys and liked it enough! But I think I have the same problem as Nirkatze... I start a bunch of stuff then just lose momentum to finish it.

I agree Choko! They're such fun books, but can pack quite a punch!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I thought the show was pretty incredible (I get kinda superlative about the show)... the first season is pretty true to the movie, with some changes needed to flesh out a show vs 90 minute movie... the later seasons explore what happens when Cole deviates from the original time loop premise of the show, and slowly uncovers all the secrets, who/what caused the loop in the first place, and how to break the loop...

The more I talk about the show, the more I risk spoiling it...

Cole was in the Nikita remake, his friend was in Fringe, and a bunch of other recognizable actors crop up...

[Tonari no Emily]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Seem to be hitting a bit of a wall, again...

I've got plenty of things I COULD read, but not many things I WANT to read...

Yesterday, I looped back around to Dade County Death Cruise

Finished Dade County Death Cruise yesterday! Had such a great time with these! I really hope the next one comes out soon! Also Gretch impersonating Prator is hilarious. I really just can't get enough of Kane's writing it seems....

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Seem to be hitting a bit of a wall, again...

I've got plenty of things I COULD read, but not many things I WANT to read...

Yesterday, I looped back around to [book:Dade Coun..."

The Prator chapters are my favorite section of each book :D

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I got a series for you, Choko: Junkyard Pirate... like a cross between Junkyard Cats & Death Becomes Her...

I liked Junkyard Cats more (Faith Hunter audible series)... I think the comparisons to Kurtherian Gambit are what make it a mediocre series for me... lots of machismo and not much character depth... popcorn read, for those happy enough with it... which is why I'd mention it to Choko, since we read all 18 KG books together a few years ago, but I wouldn't really recommend to anyone else, I don't think... reading #3 right now, because I already have/had it... leaning into cleaning out TBR for end of year... thinking of resurrecting an old end of year thread that Niki & Virginie did a few years ago... but I need to check if it'll interfere with Niki's November/December monthly challenge plans...

[Choko]

I own the series too, so I will definitely check it out:) Thank you as always, Iain!

I have the Dede county books too, I just haven't read them yet, but I am excited to hear they are fun:)

[Nirkatze]

Definitely three cheers for St. Mary's!

re: 12 Monkeys cast--that was one of the things I remember liking! I love seeing actors from other SF/Fesque shows getting jobs in new SF/F shows...

I have the Junkyard Pirate books too! But I am moving too slow for you speedy folks... I want to read the Orlando People books as well... Ah well, I know I can circle back around to the comments.

Still! Chugging away at St. Mary's!

9.6 Steam Pump Jump--I love getting back in Markham's head! Rose is such a lovely shade of pink. I like that (view spoiler)[Lingoss is approaching Petersen from good solid friend corner, and not googly-eye aftering him. (hide spoiler)]

9.7 And Now For Something Completely Different--(view spoiler)[Mars is cool! But man, I was definitely on the side of the poor Time Police for pretty much this whole bit. Which bodes well for the Time Police series. (hide spoiler)]

On to #10! Almost caught up!--Man, this one is off to a running start and it isn't letting up! (view spoiler)[I love the premise--Lady Jane Grey! I went through a historical Tudor-craze in high school, and loved her story--so tragic! I love Taylor's reimagining of this "what if." (hide spoiler)]

And finally! The (view spoiler)[Time Fog (hide spoiler)] that @Iain has been hinting at! AAAAAH! I am REALLY wishing I haven't been spending the last hour looking up Japanese horror clips for work tomorrow... >.<

[Narilka]

Timelord Iain wrote: "... which is why I'd mention it to Choko, since we read all 18 KG books together a few years ago..."

hahahaha OMG I read that as 18 KILOGRAMS of books at first! Took me a minute to realize you were referring to the series initials lol I finally got my husband to listen to Project Hail Mary in the car on the way up to the mountains and I think my brain is still in science mode :D

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Narilka wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "... which is why I'd mention it to Choko, since we read all 18 KG books together a few years ago..."

hahahaha OMG I read that as 18 KILOGRAMS of books at first! Took me a min..."

That mistake isn't as far off the mark as you'd think, actually... it's one of the reasons I abandoned the series... that, and the quality... it's one of those indie authors that found success releasing books monthly, then turned his series into an Expanded Universe and started cowriting books with a ton of other first time / indie authors...

The first book came out in December 2015, and there are like 200+ books in the expanded universe: https://kurtherian-gambit.fandom.com/...

I read the 18 main books in the first series (it started a sequel series at book 19) and none of the side books... I was mostly looking for a stopping point where I got some kind of resolution... and it was rough, because books 9-18 start referencing the side material alot...

[Narilka]

200+ books I'm sure would be near, if not over, 18 kilos lol

[Choko]

Hahaha! At least 18 kilograms:)))

Nirkatze, how the heck are we ever going to fit all the books we want to read in our lives?!??!! It constantly comes back to that time stopping alternative universe bubble, doesn't it?

[Nirkatze]

@Choko--so true! On the plus side, this means we never have to worry about running out of books. Sometimes I darkly think that getting people hooked on as many book series as possible is a good suicide prevention method--they say one of the best tactics is to get folks to focus on what they are looking forward to...

@Narilka--I loved Hail Mary! That was one of my favorite reads... last year? Year before? And my GR choice vote for that year. How are you liking it?

LOL 18 KG--my brain would have gone there too...

Choko wrote: "I finished St. Mary's #10. I was so extremely angry with the Time Police, I was ready to smash things!!!! And then The Boss showed why we love him so much and the ending once again showed me why I ..."

Just finished #10!

Idiot Halcome (view spoiler)[Wow. He thought threatening Max would be better than threatening her people. Earning his sobriquet here... I'm with Max, I wish we could have seen his face when he realized he'd bungled everything. (hide spoiler)]

The Plan! (view spoiler)[I rather enjoyed the romp through the not-a-whore-house and the Crustaceous! It has been a while. (hide spoiler)]

Question: "Can red exist..." I think it ended with "...in the dark?" but it went out of my brain too quickly. Like the question--if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it still make a sound? What do y'all think? (view spoiler)[I always thought these kinds of questions somewhat superfluous and not really as worthy of philosophical debate as hyped. I mean, it all depends on your definition of sound, or red. If you define sound as the sound waves, or red as the quality of an object which when interacting with light will reflect the color red, then yes. If you define sound as when the waves interact with an interceptor that can comprehend it, or red as the color refracted when light hits that object, then no. I personally define sound as the wave, so yes, but color as requiring light to exist, so no. Is debate still required? (hide spoiler)]

Ending (view spoiler)[Was rather pissed off at Haye when she said something like "we're not required to explain ourselves to you." I really think she does owe St. Mary's an explanation for why they let someone go after so much life lost and energy expended by all parties to capture him. That single line was just completely bollox. I do understand why though--I remember thinking about whether or not he had already done everything and could be killed yet... and that even if they did kill him, that wouldn't mean he was done yet... (hide spoiler)]

@Choko--I resonate with EVERYTHING you said there--(view spoiler)[betrayal and anger @TP, thank GOODNESS for Bossman and having Matthew in custody, and LOL Mickey! Good choice indeed! (hide spoiler)]

I'm finally almost caught up! Not sure if I'm going to jump into the shorts and then #11 and get fully caught up, or sidetrack to a different audio for some parsley... right now all the BRs I'm trying to juggle are physical reads for me...

Eh, sorry my posts are always so bloody long... sometimes I hoard them for days until I have time to finish properly...

[Narilka]

@Nirkatze, this is a relisten of Hail Mary for me. I love the book. It's why I've been badgering my husband to listen :) He's really enjoying it too.

[Choko]

Nirkatze, I am so glad you actually leave those long notes! It lets me experience all the emotions all over again and I love that! This series has become a comfort read and I relish chatting about it. #10 was the first new book of the series for me and I was not disappointed at all. But man, in those moments when the betrayal occurred, I was ready to explode!!! And then... just perfect! And Mathew is aiming kind of high with Mickey, isn't he?:)))

[Nirkatze]

@Narilka! Oh that's awesome! Hail Mary was one of the books I gave to folks as presents that year... such a heartwarming story... great buddy-couple story too. And I love how Weir has grown as an author! I really thought he nailed the double-timeline storytelling, the blend of science and humor, and the gut-punch revelations. I read the book the first time, but I think I'd like to try audio when I get around to a reread, since I keep hearing such good things about it.

@Choko! LOL I'm glad I'm not making things too long then. And I totally agree about #10--I was all set to like Hayes, but then she had to ruin it all! (view spoiler)[It wasn't what she did to Ronan, I get that, it was trying to keep Matthew that was so horrible. (hide spoiler)] Though this does make me all the more curious about the Time Police books.

Finished the shorts, and in to #11 now!

When Did You Last See Your Father?--I loved this one! Seeing things from Leon's POV for the first time, and brilliant dealing with Max's father.

Why Is Nothing Ever Simple?--I enjoyed it while I listened, but promptly forgot everything two days later. Mmm (view spoiler)[Scotland? E. Gray figuring things out. Bounty Hunter with a Butler! Stupid [insert random idiots] privilege group. (hide spoiler)] Totally agree @Choko--I hope to see the Lady & Pennyroyal again. Also, the butler name sounds an awful lot like Alfred's last name from Batman...

A few hours into #11, and I'm loving the Vikings too! (view spoiler)[Was Matthew giving Mikey a present in this one or in the short? That was so cute! With the 10 different shades of ribbon... Though there was a random line where Max was like "What are teachers doing with their time anyway?" and I was like hey! ouch! I love seeing Eddie again!!! His & Max's energy is just awesome, and he's probably the best thing that could happen to Matthew at this point. Shame he didn't come on the jump with them to clean up... at least, I don't think he did, right?

Did anyone else think that Max & co being sent on the clean-up jump was just a little too convenient? Like Bairstowe was planning something and needed them out of the way?

Or that the whole story about the Vikings--with the ship being discovered and destroyed--gives them the perfect opportunity and EXACT DATE to jump and recover the ship for Thirsk? Though how they'd justify an excavation excursion in America I'd definitely like to know. And then there's the question of if the 1970s is too close to the 100 year rule. Maybe they'll just have to put it on the calendar for later. Such cool tidbits on real history though! (hide spoiler)]

Just hit the Leon bit--very interesting. (view spoiler)[The short from his POV definitely made it sound like he never found his ex again--not to mention, how long had he been working at St. Mary's after her supposed murder? How does the timeline match up, exactly? And it wasn't his idea to be assigned to the St. Mary's setup assignment. Is this just another case of "just ignore it and don't think too closely about the potential potholes sit back and have fun (like the fact that Bairstow & Leon are LIVING OUTSIDE THEIR TIME like the Time Police is supposed to prevent--or does that ONLY go for people living forwards in time and they don't care about backwards?) (hide spoiler)]

[Narilka]

@Nirkatze This is one I imagine is better on audio due to (view spoiler)[how they narrate Rocky's voice (hide spoiler)]. Trust me, it's amazing.

[Nirkatze]

Narilka wrote: "@Nirkatze This is one I imagine is better on audio due to [spoilers removed]. Trust me, it's amazing."

Just added to wishlist on Audible & Chirp. Sadly neither Libby nor Hoopla nor Sora have it... and I saw it's Ray Porter! I really have enjoyed his voice.

[Nirkatze]

St. Mary's #10 through Chapter 16--(view spoiler)[Glad Leon's all sorted, and that Max & Hayes are on better terms again...

Going back actually--to Markham. What is up with him "not being allowed to breed"? This made me think that he might actually be bastard royalty, or maybe even another person out of time in one way or another. (hide spoiler)]

Up to Chapter 19--(view spoiler)[OMG MARKHAM IS THE PRINCE! Why else would they save him???? Because they already had!! And why else would Markham not have gone with them? I bet they poisoned him to keep him from going. Or he had like, time-sickness, as his past was starting to get close to unravelling. (hide spoiler)]

Okay, posting this before I'm proved right or wrong. :)

[Tonari no Emily]

Loved Hail Mary! Sadly I think it's an Audible exclusive so it won't be in the libraries ><

[Choko]

Nirkatze, you are into the deep waters now!!!! And I always marvel at your great reading intuition:)))!

[Nirkatze]

@Tonari-san Ah, that makes sense! Well, it's on my wishlist. :) I'll just hope for a sale.

Finished St. Mary's #11! Loved it! Was worried the Markham thing wouldn't be explained but I wasn't disappointed. :) @Choko--Deep waters! LOL great situational pun. Poor Max was in very deep waters.

It is interesting how Taylor keeps opening doors for more conflict each time she shuts one--though we've been burned so many times on the Ronan front I'm not sure if I want to trust this...

[Nirkatze]

I started listening to Tell the Wolves I'm Home for my local book club. Not really up my alley at all. I'm not entirely bored yet, but it's close.

Also, the narrator really annoys me--has a horrible habit of slight monotone with an uptilt at the end of sentences that sounds like a bad newscaster. No character voices at all--one character is supposed to have a british accent and....no. Just no.

Still, I'm able to follow the story so far, even while working, so that's a plus. It's about a teenager whose favorite uncle just passed away from AIDS, dealing with estrangement from her older sister, missing her favorite uncle (who she also had a crush on), maybe getting to know her uncle's boyfriend without telling her family, struggling with AIDS & gay prejudice, and figuring herself out in all of this. And my brain keeps asking--but where are the dragons?

[Tonari no Emily]

Nirkatze wrote: "@Tonari-san Ah, that makes sense! Well, it's on my wishlist. :) I'll just hope for a sale.

Finished St. Mary's #11! Loved it! Was worried the Markham thing wouldn't be explained but I wasn't disap..."

I don't trust at ALL that we won't see some sort of conflict from Ronan still...

[Choko]

Hahaha! Where are the Dragons??? Or at least the uncle making a time jump into the future to give his niece advice and set her up on a quest for knowledge in a far away universe???!!! Where AIDS has been dealt with through genetic mutation and those who were born with it have established a colony on the Moon...

This is why I have mostly shunned all realistic contemporary literature... I have too much of reality in real life, I don't need it in my books as well:))))

[Nirkatze]

Choko wrote: "This is why I have mostly shunned all realistic contemporary literature... I have too much of reality in real life, I don't need it in my books as well:))))..."

^^^THIS^^^!!!!!! !!!!!! and some more !!!!!!!!!! just to get the !!!!!! point across.

And just think how much more poignant the story would be, with the Uncle seeing how his niece had progressed and grown without him, and then returning to his own timeline, without taking the cure, to die from AIDS, just to keep from upsetting the timeline and derailing his niece from her destiny....? Now THAT would make me cry...

So far, the book isn't boring, but it isn't interesting either, and it's continually uncomfortable, dealing with teenage edges of romantic awakening, and towards her gay uncle... Reminds me a lot of the The Goldfinch thematically, but that book I ripped through with burning curiosity.

I actually signed up for NetGalley today, after hearing Monika talk about it so much... not sure if I'm worthy of an advanced copy review website, but I'm trying to be a good reviewer, and I like the idea.

[Narilka]

@Nirkatze, we are almost to the end of Project Hail Mary, a half hour to go, and my husband already told me he wants to listen to it again :D Such a great book.

[Choko]

You guys are going to make me read Project Hail Mary too! Have you no mercy on me?!?!

Nirkatze, you are far braver than me... I never signed up for NetGalley because I just can't guarantee that I would read the book I am given for review and feel in the mood to review it when time comes... But I sure love my friends reading books early and letting me know if they are worth getting or not:))) Good luck and we will be asking for your opinion!

[Tonari no Emily]

Yeah I'm horrible at reviewing things, but would definitely be interested in your opinions Nirkatze!


Myself I can read some contemporary fiction... But it's gotta have some sort of page-turner factor to it. Otherwise I'm just a little bored

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I tried reviewing for a bit... I like posting minor thoughts, just a little something to remember the book by, if it was memorable... but I don't write much, anymore...

Especially since I started listening faster and cramming so many books into each year... and then I kinda started letting entire years of books pile up, and then I need to catch up, well after the fact... I'm terrible like that...

[Nirkatze]

I never used to review things unless I had a really strong thought about them, but I've been trying to refine my reactions to books and write something after each one, even if it is only a vague impression... I started watching booktubers this year and also recently heard several authors say that the best thing a reader/fan can do to support them is to write reviews. I like the idea of being able to support authors and give readers help finding books to match them, so that's been something like my personal goal for the year... I am planning on taking things really slow, and I'm hopeful I'll be able to try some indie books and give them a boost...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Melissa F. Olson has started writing books again, and I'm so happy...

She's an author I found a few years ago, and 90% of her books are on Kindle Unlimited and include free audio... but then she got pregnant in 2018/2019 and got busy for awhile... her regular book releases paused for awhile... only thing she wrote was a pregnancy diary for an in-series main character that was also pregnant... so it wasn't normal format, more epistolary diary entries I think...

Looks like she released an anthology in 2021... 2nd anthology, some newer old stuff and some new stuff, I think... and finally released a new new book a few months ago... both still need audio releases, tho, so I'm going to wait a bit... I think it's a new crossover series that's being marketed incorrectly as the 6th entry in an existing series of one of the characters...

Dead Spots
Boundary Crossed
Midnight Curse
Boundary Broken
Companion Pieces
Born Magic: The Diary of Scarlett Bernard
Spell Bond: More Tales From the Old World

I think that's the starting points of all the connected trilogies/series and the anthologies/companion works...

EDIT: Or not... looks like Old World War is an Avenger's style team-up finale for the connected series (for now)... sounds like maybe the author wrote it so fans won't feel abandoned, while she's less focused on writing?... and/or, it's been so long since she wrote in the world, she's worried it won't be as financially successful (interest waned)... either way, I'm still happy for new books...

EDIT EDIT: Found a post on Twitter saying that Old World War is the most anticipated and most researched and longest book she's ever written... so maybe this was the plan all along... even more exciting... :shrug:

Also, looks like she is on Patreon... that's probably where the stories from Spell Bond originated...

[Choko]

I am definitely going to check her books out, since you like her.

[Narilka]

Choko wrote: "You guys are going to make me read Project Hail Mary too! Have you no mercy on me?!?! "

You absolutely should and on audio if you can manage it :D

The husband and I are doing a series of road trips so we're burning through audio books. Normally we listen to ones I've already listened to and think he will enjoy. This time we threw caution to the wind and started NPCs after wrapping up Project Hail Mary. I like that it's a different take on LitRPGs. We're about 75% in. So far, I like the NPCs a lot more than the small parts we get of the PCs - we could never get their POV again and I'd be perfectly happy. I see the series has 5 books so far and since my husband is enjoying them there's a good chance we'll get to them all eventually.

[Nirkatze]

Added to both a few of the Melissa F. Olson books and NPCs to TBR. :)

Did we have a date for the next St. Mary's by chance?

[Choko]

We can read it this weekend?

[Nirkatze]

LOL I might be a little late but I'm game for setting the date! I haven't done the in-between shorts yet--trying to find time to do the Toilet Paper Roll one. :)

Also I just started Assassin's Quest and need to get over to the RotE lazy thread to comment. :)

[Nirkatze]

It seems like an age and a half ago since we burned through His Dark Materials here as a random BR--but HBO dropped a trailer for Season 3 last week, and I might be a bit more excited for that than I was rereading the Amber Spyglass. It looks very shiny.

https://winteriscoming.net/2022/11/02...

[Choko]

I am definitely excited about it! I think HBO did a great job with the series production!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Dimension 20 season 1: Fantasy High, has been tanking my reading this weekend... started it a few weeks ago, and managed to resist in fits and starts, but been watching alot the last few days... there are like 15 seasons of the show, but I'll probably have to get the subscription to see them all... I don't think they're all on youtube...

Just season 1 is like 30hrs, and I'm only through 15 of them... it's a D&D campaign show, with writers/cast from College Humor playing the game...

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...

Maybe I can take you guys down the rabbithole with me, and tank all our reading stats ;)

I'm not complaining too much, the show has tons of hilarious moments, and it's fun to watch while I play my idle games (I play alot of idle games that run 24/7, while listening to my books)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

In book talk, definitely planning to do the next St. Mary's shorts and books very soon...

[Tonari no Emily]

I recently started working day shifts so my reading has been way down, but I think I'll be able to get into the next St. Mary's soon! I still need to read Bands of Mourning and finish up things I've put off for a while...

What idle games do you play Iain? I go through a few but I get bored easily

[Choko]

That sucks! I hope you adjust soon:)

[Choko]

I just read the 6 page short story about how Cleo got involved with St. Mary's and I was dying of laughter:)! It was hilarious to me:) The two page short about the Girl with the Pearl in her Nose was fun, but too short to be anything really...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "I recently started working day shifts so my reading has been way down, but I think I'll be able to get into the next St. Mary's soon! I still need to read Bands of Mourning and finish up things I'v..."

I feel your pain... my solution is/was/has-always-been faster listening speeds :D

I worked overnights from 2010 to 2019ish... then my workplace got rid of overnight shifts in favor of hybrid shifts... now I work 4am to Noon-Thirty...

I got into audiobooks in 2014, and really loved my ability to listen to a book a day at work, basically, or more... especially as my listening speed increased...

Since going to days, my ability to listen shrank, but still existed at least until 8am, until earlier this year... but now I pretty much only get to listen on breaks, or on the drive to and from work and the first few minutes after I get there...

Hopefully you adjust, and find time to do at least some of your average daily reading...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "I recently started working day shifts so my reading has been way down, but I think I'll be able to get into the next St. Mary's soon! I still need to read Bands of Mourning and finish up things I'v..."

Idle Game Talk... I play all the games... I'm a heavy gamer... it's been one of the biggest advantages of audiobooks over ebooks for me...

I read a fair amount as a kid, through the library... then I got a PS2, and I think my reading dropped... did some reading in college, but mostly tomes since they were good value, and eventually burned out on Wheel of Time #6, Lord of Chaos...

After college, I finished Wheel of Time eventually, did some Shannara and Dresden and a few other things, but didn't get SERIOUS about reading until I got a Kindle and found Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Romance... then I spent 2-3 years pretty much nonstop reading ebook... work, home, everywhere... then I found audiobooks, and slowly but surely never looked back...

ANYWAY... in my active gaming days I played World of Warcraft, Path of Exile, Terraria, and a few other games... I still revisit them sometimes, but I've done nothing but idle games for the last 2 years now, I think, except for a short nostalgia revisit to some Final Fantasy games and other really old games...

I first found idle games around 2013, with Cookie Clicker (not a favorite) and Clicker Heroes (I really liked this one, for awhile, before the Transcendence Update totally changed the gameplay loop alot)... these days, those types of idle/clicker games are pretty simplistic... so many of the newer games, and some of the older games, have layers and layers of evolving content...

One of my favorite older ones, that lasts a few weeks, but was abandoned a long time ago now, is Mine Defense... it starts as a simple Mining game, then you're building walls to protect from enemies, raising an army of mages and dragons, eventually building a whole town and army and smithy and trade network...

Then you have the games that are pretty amazing, just because the dev kept devving until they couldn't dev anymore (most devs are amateurs, learning to code as they go, and eventually the game is such a mess of spaghetti code that it becomes really hard to add anymore content without breaking everything)... good examples of this are NGU Idle (stands for Numbers Go Up), and WaMi (Wizard and Minion Idle)... I've focused on each of these games for about a year... NGU, I beat a year past last August, and WaMi I've been playing since January and reached near the endgame... my Steam account reads nearly 9000 hours of NGU, and over 6000 hours WaMi... WaMi was inspired by NGU... both games have many many layers... you start off clearing stages for resources and using them in 1-2 tabs, and eventually have like 10-20 tabs, many things going on, an adventure mode with gear to farm and on an on... so much stuff that it's hard to condense into a few words... over time, some mechanics dry up and stop doing anything meaningful, but new mechanics and multipliers keep unlocking for weeks/months to keep helping you progress... these types of games benefit from having discord servers full of other players and hints/tips/guides/wikis...

I could talk about Trimps, Synergism, Perfect Tower 1 & 2, Realm Grinder, Antimatter Dimensions, etc, for just as long... and that's just the long games...

Then there's the entire genre of games that only last for hours/days/weeks max... Jacorb made a game called Prestige Tree, which boils the genre down to prestiging, a common mechanic of resetting progress for a new resource that makes old progress faster and offers upgrades/buyables to spend the new resource on... his game has like 12-15 layers of this... then people started modding this format to make their own games... then Acamaeda made a Modding Tree that helps people make mods... now there are 100s/1000s of these mods... and I've probably played 100 of them... I spend the most time playing modder pg23's mods... I've been playing his Tree of Life mod for the past few weeks... I generally play 2 long-term idle games (they don't tend to require too much interaction, beyond a few times a day), and then 1 more active game like Tree of Life, that doesn't make much progress if you aren't around to constantly buy things... I can't even tell you what layer of Tree of Life I'm on, but it's alot... the game starts at the molectular level, and slowly builds to cellular, then organisms, then ecosystems... I'm at the orgainism level... Hydrogen, Deuterium, Carbon, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Lives, Amino Acids, DNA, Cells, Tissues, Organs, Animals, Chromosomes, Nucleus (and this ignores all the subtabs, mini-games, and challenges... the game has had so many that at certain points of progress it starts deleting old mechanics to cut down on calculations and make room for new mechanics... Animals has a wholo Taxonomy chart system, Organs had Heart, Kidney, Lung, and Intestine tabs, etc)...

You opened a can of worms with this question, Emily...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Minor return to active gaming talk, a tangent of the previous message... it's been a long time since I did much multiplayer gaming... even when I play games with World of Warcraft and Path of Exile (and Terraria), it's for the solo aspects... there's so many things you can collect in old content of WoW solo, ignoring all the group content in the newest hardest areas... Path of Exile is an Action RPG that's more like a Bullet Hell, where the best strategy is to be able to clear the entire screen with a single attack, or risk dying... group play barely exists, because the game has too many particle effects and combat calculations for multiple players to exist in the same instance of a zone without lagging and dying... 99% of all group play in POE anymore is just 5 people following around 1 person fighting, maybe providing buffs, but otherwise just taking advantage of the party loot multipliers and having the 1 person kill everything (maybe providing a service like completing a challenge to kill a hard boss for everyone)... and Terraria is just a nice 2 game for collecting and building things... virtual legos with some combat sometimes...

My PC has gotten so old, tho, and I've been resistant to building a new one and transferring my audiobook library, so I can't really play anything but idle games on it anymore...

[Nirkatze]

That's a great list of books & games Iain. Am in awe. :)

I'm a casual gamer when I can find time--mostly World of Warcraft still (retail--Horde & classic--Alliance), and the Bioware Dragon Age/Mass Effect games, some Final Fantasy. Don't have as much time as I like to play though. :)

Any other gamers out there?

[Choko]

Wow!!! Wow!!! I am actually very interested in the Tree of Life game now. Do you have to be an advanced gamer to be good at it?

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Be warned... these types of game are mostly just text and numbers going up... the descriptions of the upgrades barely matter, as long as you understand the basics of the effects in action... I can link the game if you want...

These types of games can also be quite repetitive... I mostly use them as something to do when my other games don't need me, and while listening to books / watching TV...

They boil down the basics of gaming to the joy of knowing numbers are getting bigger, whether that's gold, combat stats, loot, etc...

Here's the link: https://raw.githack.com/pg132/The-Mod...

Most of these games are hosted through github, an open source code storage/project website...

The original game that all these mods are based off of and inspired by:

https://jacorb90.me/Prestige-Tree/

Some other game links, all of these are on steam now, for the most part, so you can watch a trailer... some are more colorful than others... and more complicated:

NGU Idle: https://store.steampowered.com/app/11...
Wizard and Minion Idle: https://store.steampowered.com/app/10...
Trimps: https://store.steampowered.com/app/18...
Realm Grinder: https://store.steampowered.com/app/61...
Synergism: https://pseudo-corp.github.io/Synergi...

Most of these games have microtransactions to earn profits, but can be played completely free as well... generally with ways to slowly earn the premium currency and buy all the premium upgrades for free...

Also, since they focus so purely on numbers, some reward some math skills, or using guides/spreadsheets to maximize gains... but you can make decent progress even without getting that deep into it...

I even use my spreadsheet skills to test some math out and minmax myself, when new content comes out and there isn't a spreadsheet for it already...

[Choko]

Thanks, Iain! This is a bit overwhelming, but I am definitely going to check them out:)))