Gosh, it turns out they’re making another Star Wars movie! I’m surprised. I’d have thought that with an Avengers movie happening in a couple of weeks the single entertainment company that now owns the rights to everything that makes us happy would have been satisfied to just end one enormous nerd-centric franchise, but no, let’s end this one too!
Anyway the plot of the film is a total mystery unless you read all of the totally authentic leaks, which inform us that Rey is going to die (because a magical force permeating all life is totally believable until it’s given to a woman, at which point it’s totally unrealistic and leaves her overpowered) and then Poe and Finn team up with Captain Marvel to fight Galactus. Later, everybody comes back to life and everyone kisses everyone else! Let us all know about how excited you are to see Kylo Ren whine about the screen for a third film in the comments of this week’s What Are You Playing.
Bonus question: What do you collect? If you don’t collect anything, what would you like to collect?
Brianna Royce (@nbrianna, blog): Definitely going to be in Guild Wars 2 again this weekend. My husband and I mopped up the remainder of season 3 last week, and we’re back in Path of Fire now. Last night we made it to Vabbi, but we did so very little of the non-storyline content in the previous two zones that I suspect we’ll be backtracking a ton next.
I’m sort of a bad collector… I have a lot of small collections. Nothing complete, nothing big – I don’t really do that because having too much stuff gives me anxiety – just small groups of things I like. My most treasured is actually my grandma’s little carved stone animal figurines. Some of them were lost after her death, but I managed to save a few, and I’ve been adding to them ever since.
Carlo Lacsina (@UltraMudkipEX): I’ve got this sweet article I want to write a month from now, so I’m doing some research. That research involves playing some Lineage II, and if possible Lineage!
My wife and I have a pretty big video game collection. A lot of the games are some hard-to-find Japanese games from the PS3 era, but we have classics including the original Final Fantasy. It actually takes up a whole closet! it’s been a long time since we’ve actually added to the collection, but we’re still very proud of it.
Chris Neal (@wolfyseyes, blog): Most of my free game time is being spent at a document writing up stuff for a D&D side thing myself and a good friend will be co-DM’ing. It’s basically a desert location that’s like a Monster Hunter World scenario. And hey, speaking of hunting monsters, there will likely be lots of Dauntless.
I don’t collect anything specifically anymore, but I used to collect a LOT of the game pieces for the tabletop miniatures war game MechWarrior: Dark Age. It features the HeroClix system and is just a lot of fun to collect and play. I just wish my husband liked tabletop mini games as much as I do; I miss playing it. Still, I have a bunch of plastic stompy robots and I love them.
Colin Henry (@ChaosConstant): Mostly World vs. World in Guild Wars 2 for me this weekend, finishing my quest to unlock the Warclaw mount. I’ve got all of the pieces except the one that comes at the end of a reward track, which is proving to take half of forever. I also finally got my phone back from repairs, so I can finally see what all this The Elder Scrolls Blades fuss is about!
Collections require money, so I don’t collect much. But I do have a sort of collection of memorabilia from Nintendo’s Fire Emblem series. I’ve got a small shelf next to my computer displaying various Fire Emblem Amiibo figurines, a couple of art books, and the boxes from some of my favorite games. It’s a pretty niche franchise, so there’s not a ton of stuff out there to collect.
Eliot Lefebvre (@Eliot_Lefebvre, blog): Still on expansion prep duty in Final Fantasy XIV, but other than that my wife and I have been spending time organizing and cleaning out our house, so that’s reminded me of a bunch of console games I still have to play. Although I might just wind up playing more Assassin’s Creed Odyssey instead.
Basically anyone who follows me on social media knows about my Transformers collection, which is really the limit of my collections these days. There was a time when I collected lots of stuff (games, books, comics, and so forth), but these days I limit my collecting to things that I can pick up and use in some capacity. So a whole lot of robots that transform? Yeah, that’s me.
Justin Olivetti (@Sypster, blog): I’ve joined the curious crowd of testers who are trying out the very, very early alpha of Fractured, and while I’m not expecting a lot there, I do hope to get a feel for what direction the developers are taking this title. Apart from that, I’ve got a lot of Lothlorien questing to do on Lord of the Rings Online’s progression server and might be joining up with my Dungeons & Dragons Online group for some high-difficulty dungeon delving.
Mia DeSanzo (@neschria): I am traveling this weekend for my brother’s memorial service on Saturday. I am not going to even pretend games are going to happen, but I am taking my laptop just in case there is an opportunity.
I am not a collector IRL, but I am in games. Give me a set of something to collect or achieve, and I feel compelled to finish the collection. Nothing made me happier than spotting shiny things on the ground in EverQuest II, and I have spent an obscene amount of time looking for the last species on a planet in No Man’s Sky.
MJ Guthrie (@MJ_Guthrie, blog): Honestly, I have no idea what I will play! I am just coming off a very stress-apalooza week and am not sure what will feel relaxing to be in, or if I will just hermit myself and snuggle family and play D&D. Chances are I will pop into my survivals and refresh things and maybe even do a few (non-backbreaking) building projects. Astroneer and Outpost Zero are the most likely, with a possibility of Conan Exiles and Rend as well. I might even find my way back into Subnautica.
I collect hugs and smiles! But of other things, well, when I was young I said cows when asked because cow things didn’t exist. Unfortunately for me, they became the next big thing within two years and people gave me cows for a long time. I’ve got quite a stuffed animal collection that has been purged by 75% and is still huge. More recently I’ve settled on plushies, squishy soft huggable plushies! I am pretty darn fond of rubber duckies, smileyfaces, dragons, and killer bunnies, so although I don’t really have spare money, these are the focus when possible. These work well with my other love: fun slippers! Yes, I’ve got killer bunny slippers!
Samon Kashani (@thesamkash): The plan for this weekend will be to get more Guild Wars 2 SAB achievements, more levels and time with the guild in Crowfall, and to try out Albion Online more. Going free to play meant I had to give out a shot now!
I don’t collect things. Except maybe baseball caps. I do have many of those.
Tyler Edwards: I’m running out of things to do in Anthem, so it will probably be some combination of The Division 2 and/or the Fractured alpha, which I’ve been invited to but not yet tried at the time of this writing. Also more D&D, as ever. Planning to continue the adventures of my Deep Gnome artificer and her undead twin sister.
I’m not a big collector. It requires levels of money and effort that are beyond my means and interest. I have a lot of books and numerous random bits of sci-fi and gaming memorabilia, but nothing that quite qualifies as a proper collection. In games, I like collecting cool outfit pieces, but I never got into hoarding mounts, pets, or achievements.
Pierre, Patron: I’m afraid Washington D.C. is a bit of a mess now. Due to very busy weeks at work (again…) I haven’t been able to deal with the riots and keep the brutal factions at bay in The Division 2. So my weekend will be dedicated to this definitely excellent game.
With all the teasing on Borderlands 3, I’ve also decided to go through Tales from the Borderlands. If you never played it, it’s one of the best series from regretted Telltale Games. It’s really good, almost as good as the Telltale Walking Dead series, and much more hilarious. There are two games that made me burst in laughs for moments: Final Fantasy XI (the Star Onion Brigade may ring a bell for FFXI players) and Tales from the Borderlands. You’d appreciate the game better if you played Borderlands 2, but even if you didn’t play, you can relate to the story and understand what’s going on. Finally, I’d probably watch a few more episodes of The Man in the High Castle on Amazon Prime Video. I recommend this show, it’s really well written and subtle and the actors are excellent.
Every Saturday, join the Massively OP community and staff for What Are You Playing, our roundup of what MMORPGs and other games we’re hoping to play this weekend (with a bonus question or two for our amusement). Tell us what you’re up to! Go off-topic! And don’t forget to have fun!
