Critical Role
4x06 Knives and Thorns [final half-hour]
Not that I didn't enjoy the episode, but getting through it by breaking it down into five parts has felt like a bit of a slog. Spreading those over two weeks won't have helped, either. I guess I need to go back to dedicating longer single periods to watching it (damn you, Skyrim!)
[Watch it (again) for free on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
Critical Role Cooldown
Campaign 4, Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on Beacon.]
Thursday, 4 December 2025
TV
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
"I haven't been playing that long, I guess I can do one more dungeon..."
"Now I'll just travel to my next destination..."
"Well, the last dungeon was quite short, so maybe just one more..."
"One more" turned out to be a really long one. I even ended up stopping somewhere in the middle of it (possibly near the end, but there's a whole new location to open next) because by that point I'd played for 4½ hours today. Oopsie.
"I haven't been playing that long, I guess I can do one more dungeon..."
"Now I'll just travel to my next destination..."
"Well, the last dungeon was quite short, so maybe just one more..."
"One more" turned out to be a really long one. I even ended up stopping somewhere in the middle of it (possibly near the end, but there's a whole new location to open next) because by that point I'd played for 4½ hours today. Oopsie.
Wednesday, 3 December 2025
TV
Critical Role
4x06 Knives and Thorns [4th hour]
[Watch it (again) for free on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
4x06 Knives and Thorns [4th hour]
[Watch it (again) for free on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
After about 30 hours of play, I woke up in Markarth — only the second city I'd visited in the game — and immediately got waylaid by a bunch of stuff. After several hours there, I set out into the world to complete those freshly-started quests, intending to further several at once before returning to the city to finish them all off together. Well, over 30 more hours later — and with no new cities visited in that time, mind — I'm finally back! Who knows how many more hours before I leave again. Who knows how many hours to visit all the places I haven't yet.
I know I write a version of that a lot, but it's because it continues to amaze me just how much there is in this game. Obviously it can all be done a lot quicker (I'm avoiding fast travel for immersion purposes, and also because that way you stumble across more stuff — and that stumbling makes the game take even longer again, of course), but even still, it's incredible. I know this isn't the only game like this... and, frankly, that's exciting: even when (if) I finish with Skyrim, I can head off into the world of The Witcher 3, say. Maybe I'll get bored of fantasy-world questing in open worlds before then, but, right now, that feels unlikely.
After about 30 hours of play, I woke up in Markarth — only the second city I'd visited in the game — and immediately got waylaid by a bunch of stuff. After several hours there, I set out into the world to complete those freshly-started quests, intending to further several at once before returning to the city to finish them all off together. Well, over 30 more hours later — and with no new cities visited in that time, mind — I'm finally back! Who knows how many more hours before I leave again. Who knows how many hours to visit all the places I haven't yet.
I know I write a version of that a lot, but it's because it continues to amaze me just how much there is in this game. Obviously it can all be done a lot quicker (I'm avoiding fast travel for immersion purposes, and also because that way you stumble across more stuff — and that stumbling makes the game take even longer again, of course), but even still, it's incredible. I know this isn't the only game like this... and, frankly, that's exciting: even when (if) I finish with Skyrim, I can head off into the world of The Witcher 3, say. Maybe I'll get bored of fantasy-world questing in open worlds before then, but, right now, that feels unlikely.
Tuesday, 2 December 2025
TV
Critical Role
4x06 Knives and Thorns [3rd hour]
[Watch it (again) for free on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
4x06 Knives and Thorns [3rd hour]
[Watch it (again) for free on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
I've been setting out to complete some very specific things... and along the way I keep finding more distractions! I've ended today's session finally reaching the place I've been aiming to go "next" for a good few days — hours of playtime spent aiming there but coming across something else to do first. And this isn't a complaint!
I've been setting out to complete some very specific things... and along the way I keep finding more distractions! I've ended today's session finally reaching the place I've been aiming to go "next" for a good few days — hours of playtime spent aiming there but coming across something else to do first. And this isn't a complaint!
Tabletop Games
EXIT: The Game Advent Calendar:
The Silent Storm
December 2nd
A complete damp squib today. The puzzle involves moving and shaking the box to release a part… except in my copy it had already shaken loose (I actually found it yesterday and guessed it was a future puzzle gone wrong, so at least I didn’t have to wait long for the answer). I’m sure it seemed like a very clever idea at the concept stage, but including such a puzzle in a product that’s inevitably going to be shaken around while being transported, delivered, examined, etc, is just inherently ill-conceived. Hopefully the game doesn’t try such things too often or it’s going to wind up a very disappointing month.
The Silent Storm
December 2nd
A complete damp squib today. The puzzle involves moving and shaking the box to release a part… except in my copy it had already shaken loose (I actually found it yesterday and guessed it was a future puzzle gone wrong, so at least I didn’t have to wait long for the answer). I’m sure it seemed like a very clever idea at the concept stage, but including such a puzzle in a product that’s inevitably going to be shaken around while being transported, delivered, examined, etc, is just inherently ill-conceived. Hopefully the game doesn’t try such things too often or it’s going to wind up a very disappointing month.
Monday, 1 December 2025
Tabletop Games
EXIT: The Game Advent Calendar:
The Silent Storm
December 1st
I don't log 'toys' here, so I don't think I've ever mentioned that, for a few years now, I've been getting a LEGO advent calendar each year (maybe I should log building LEGO...) I haven't stopped that tradition this year, but I have also got this: an "escape room in a box"-style advent calendar. It's got a story book that guides you through each day, then each compartment you open has little bits for a daily puzzle, the solution to which tells you which compartment to open tomorrow (only Day 1 is actually numbered).
Today required a bit of a set up (reading rules, reading the intro to the narrative, cutting up and putting back together a 'decoder table' to use each day going forward) as well as the first puzzle, but it still only took 20 minutes or so. Should be a good bit of fun every day until Christmas, I think.
The Silent Storm
December 1st
I don't log 'toys' here, so I don't think I've ever mentioned that, for a few years now, I've been getting a LEGO advent calendar each year (maybe I should log building LEGO...) I haven't stopped that tradition this year, but I have also got this: an "escape room in a box"-style advent calendar. It's got a story book that guides you through each day, then each compartment you open has little bits for a daily puzzle, the solution to which tells you which compartment to open tomorrow (only Day 1 is actually numbered).
Today required a bit of a set up (reading rules, reading the intro to the narrative, cutting up and putting back together a 'decoder table' to use each day going forward) as well as the first puzzle, but it still only took 20 minutes or so. Should be a good bit of fun every day until Christmas, I think.
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
Crossed the 60-hour mark today. That puts me only a few hours off the halfway mark of "all play styles", but I still haven't done most of the things I mentioned at the 50-hour mark. Guess I'm going to be one of those multi-hundred-hour players. Unless I get bored before then. It's not looking likely right now, but you never know.
Crossed the 60-hour mark today. That puts me only a few hours off the halfway mark of "all play styles", but I still haven't done most of the things I mentioned at the 50-hour mark. Guess I'm going to be one of those multi-hundred-hour players. Unless I get bored before then. It's not looking likely right now, but you never know.
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