Failure and OST's from Weird Games I Like

Sadly I have to report that my efforts to "git gud" at the ARPG Grim Dawn have failed.  I resigned myself to failure in the last couple of days.  It's kind of weird because when I played Diablo III things usually went pretty well.  I wasn't playing on Torment 89 or anything, but I wasn't getting constantly one-shot by every heroic mob that I met.  I am trying to figure out where I went wrong--is it my gear?  Unlike D3, Grim Dawn doesn't have a system that gears loot drops toward the class you are playing.  I've had a really difficult time getting armor drops for my class.  I've gotten a literal crap-ton of caster stuff...a billion pieces of plate armor...but almost no good demolitionist items.  I've questioned if I should spend more time grinding out faction rep to unlock some items.  The answer to that is "probably."  The other possibility leading to my failure is the allocation of my talent points.  I have no idea if I am putting them in the right place.  I feel sad and pitiful when I look up builds on the interwebs, but it would undoubtedly help.  So, for now at least, I'm taking a little break from the frustrations in the land of Cairn.

My demolitionist...is now retired.

Much of my struggle now involves trying to figure out what I want to play.  I'm bouncing back and forth between a bunch of games and feeling listless about what exactly I want to do.  I started a men's prison in Prison Architect and have been spending some time trying to make it into a rehabilitation paradise.  I learned much from my first sandbox prison and things have gone relatively smoothly.  Not as smoothly as I would like as my report card shows an 8 for punishment and a 5 for rehabilitation..oh, and a -2 for health.  This time around I decided to up the difficulty and add in random events and guard needs.  Random events can vary from a burst water pipe, to random fires, or to my personal favorite, neighboring prison overload.  When other prisons are overloaded they will send you a large contingent of new prisoners--and, for some diabolical reason, they are always maximum security.  It was in one of the two times I pulled this event that I landed a legendary prisoner who enjoyed riling up everyone in max. sec. and liked to attack and slaughter my guards.  He was good at attacking and overpowering the armed guards that I set up on constant patrol around him and then using their own shotguns to kill them and any prisoners around.  I moved him into his own "supermax" wing and set up guard towers, armed patrols, and multiple guards around him.  That slightly helped...  The story ended when he somehow ended up being temporarily stored in the holding cell and then managed to escape.  I actually cheered when he was gone even though it was a failure.

Apparently you do poop and eat in the same room.

Guard needs also adds in a new twist if you choose to go that route.  Like the prisoners, the guards also have specific food and bathroom needs.  When building a breakroom it should now include serving stations for staff meals and toilets so that your guards have a place to take care of their bathroom business.  If you don't meet the needs of your staff they will perform their duties in a less than satisfactory manner--they move cripplingly slowly while performing their tasks--and if they are angry for long enough they will eventually demand a pay raise.  If you don't meet their pay demands they will go on strike.  This means no guards, no cooks...no staff in your prison--a catastrophe in the making.  I would recommend that more experienced players turn on this option as it does add some challenge.

Part visual novel, part drink mixing simulation.  100% awesome.

One of my favorite things to do while playing certain games is to listen to music.  Generally the music I prefer to listen to is music from other games.  Ironic, yes?  I very much enjoyed the quirky game VA-11 HALL-A:  Cyberpunk Bartender Action and was floored when I discovered the soundtrack available for purchase.  All those sweet, sweet, electronic hits from the jukebox are available to download on Bandcamp.  Just listening to the music has gotten me in the mood for another round of dishing up drinks to the assorted characters in Valhalla.  I really hope another game is in the works!