Wednesday Action Log 01-28-26

By Issac Young Posted Wednesday Jan 28, 2026

Filed under: Epilogue, Action Log 11 comments

More Balders Gate 3. So far things are going significantly better than last time, we managed to save the kid surrounded by Harpy’s. Unlike our last honor mode, where he died on the first turn, and everyone kept getting stunned by the singing, and for some reason someone from the grove, who is not supposed to be in that area, got into the fight, wild shaped into a badger, and got stuck on a tree.

We got some extra time to play this week, due to a snow storm, so yesterday we went through all of the underdark and even “fought” Grym by hanging out on the stairs above, and throwing random garbage at him, and since he’s weak to blunt damage, and physics is a little goofy, throwing a piece of rotting cheese did 32 damage, and a heavy crossbow does 2.

After I’m done writing this, we’ll be off to the Crèche, and hopefully not dying.

What is everyone doing this week?

 


 

Cringe Culture is Dead Continued – VTubers

By Ethan Rodgers Posted Saturday Jan 24, 2026

Filed under: Epilogue, EthanIRL 32 comments

Alright. Go ahead and die of cringe or tell me to. We’re going to talk VTubers.

I, within the past year, have dropped my prejudices and gotten into several VTubers’s content. I don’t really watch Twitch so I’m relegated to watching clips and archives on YouTube. And I’ve learned some things that I think are worth discussing.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Cringe Culture is Dead Continued – VTubers”

 


 

Wednesday Action Log 01-21-26

By Issac Young Posted Wednesday Jan 21, 2026

Filed under: Epilogue, Action Log 11 comments

More Balders Gate 3.

We only played our honor mode game this week. It was going well for the most part, we started act two, and since we were over leveled, we cleared out a lot of the enemies including the three Thorm fights. Unfortunately the fight at the inn went bad, and a very important NPC got killed, so effectively every NPC died. We did manage to survive that whole ordeal, and continue for awhile longer, even clearing out moonrise. But the run came to an end, while fighting Ketheric, a combo of bad rolls, and poor choices, led to the end of a fifty hour game. Anyway we’re starting again, right after I’m done writing this.

How’s everyone else doing this week?

 


 

Horror Slasher Evolution: Jason and Freddy Follow Suit

By Paige Francis Posted Tuesday Jan 20, 2026

Filed under: Epilogue, Paige Writes 2 comments

Having detailed the seeming completion of the Halloween film series, we return to the seminal year of 1988. Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers would be released in October. Refocusing the story on Laurie Strode’s daughter and Michael’s niece Jamie Lloyd would come to be appreciated in the future, but at the time was considered only a marginal financial success and narrative disappointment. Only two months before A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master had been a huge success, earning nearly $50 million off a budget of about $6.5 million. As we’ve seen often in the Friday the 13th series, that 10:1 return (nearly, in this case) is almost magical. Part 4 is a direct sequel to Part 3: The Dream Warriors and continues the themes introduced there. This brings back the character “Kristen” from the previous movie, although she would hand off her “final girl” status to “Alice” (literally; she “gives” Alice her ability to bring other people into her dreams) before Kristen’s on-screen death.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Horror Slasher Evolution: Jason and Freddy Follow Suit”

 


 

Fortnite, Magic the Gathering, and Why They Could Spell Doom

By Ethan Rodgers Posted Saturday Jan 17, 2026

Filed under: Epilogue, EthanIRL 15 comments

Another Magic the Gathering set, another Magic the Gathering prerelease. I try to attend each prerelease because it’s a really fun environment to play with new cards in a format that rewards creativity and a deep understanding of the card game itself. The events tend to be a good value for your dollar as well so crowds tend to show up. But this time around I was struck by something. You see, unlike the past 2 sets, WotC decided to return to their own IP. Wild, I know. But that’s not the crazy part. The crazy part is that it was the busiest and most crowded I’ve seen at my local game store. WAY more crowded.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Fortnite, Magic the Gathering, and Why They Could Spell Doom”

 


 

Wednesday Action Log 01-14-26

By Issac Young Posted Wednesday Jan 14, 2026

Filed under: Epilogue, Action Log 10 comments

This week is just Balders Gate 3.

Only a bit into act three so far, I don’t think we’ve gotten into the city properly. So far we’ve fought a clown, I angered a genie and got teleported to a jungle full of dinosaurs, and helped solve a murder.

We didn’t actually get that far, because we also started an honor mode playthrough, so no loading if there’s a mess up and if the whole party dies it’s over. To make things easier we’ve kept one party member at camp to resurrect everyone if there’s a party wipeout. It does cost money to res people and it obviously has the drawback of only three characters in a fight instead of four. We’re currently in the underdark, and about to finish the first half of it. The biggest challenge so far was getting to level four. There are a lot of fights that are too dangerous to do at level three on this difficulty, but needed to be done to get that level.

What’s everyone up to this week?

 


 

Back In The Groove

By Paige Francis Posted Monday Jan 12, 2026

Filed under: Epilogue, Paige Writes 6 comments

For the first time in a month, maybe six weeks; I feel healthy. No cold, no sinus infection, nothing else out-of-the-usual. It’s a real shame the *rest* of the family is sick now. The only thing I’m pretty sure I contributed is the cold that almost everyone got over pretty quick. I’ll be mostly out-of-town the later part of this upcoming week to help my parents deal with my father’s surgery. He’ll be in the hospital for at least a couple of days. He has normal hydrocephalus; this is more-or-less what used to be called “water on the brain,” although it is understood better now. “Water on the brain” may be a decent enough description of what’s happening, but only recently have doctors been able to start more precisely identifying symptoms, damage, and methods to remedy the problems. Even then, being able to drain the fluid away in a controlled, automated way only improves *certain* things, and it certainly can’t reverse some of the damage.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Back In The Groove”

 


 
From The Archives:

What Does a Robot Want?

No, self-aware robots aren't going to turn on us, Skynet-style. Not unless we designed them to.

 

Stolen Pixels

A screencap comic that poked fun at videogames and the industry. The comic has ended, but there's plenty of archives for you to binge on.

 

Black Desert Online

This Korean title would be the greatest MMO ever made if not for the horrendous monetization system. And the embarrassing translation. And the terrible progression. And the developer's general apathy towards its western audience.

 

Pixel City Dev Blog

An attempt to make a good looking cityscape with nothing but simple tricks and a few rectangles of light.

 

Megatextures

A video discussing Megatexture technology. Why we needed it, what it was supposed to do, and why it maybe didn't totally work.

 

The Mistakes DOOM Didn't Make

How did this game avoid all the usual stupidity that ruins remakes of classic titles?

 

Bethesda NEVER Understood Fallout

Let's count up the ways in which Bethesda has misunderstood and misused the Fallout property.

 

Zenimax vs. Facebook

This series explores the troubled history of VR and the strange lawsuit between Zenimax publishing and Facebook.

 

Shamus Plays WOW

Ever wondered what's in all those quest boxes you've never bothered to read? Get ready: They're more insane than you might expect.

 

Charging More for a Worse Product

No, game prices don't "need" to go up. That's not how supply and demand works. Instead, the publishers need to be smarter about where they spend their money.