When coming back home from work: “Honey, I’m home!”
When coming back home from work but you are not married and live alone: “Honey, I’m home!”
When coming into work after a night of being alone at your residence: “Not-honey, I’m not home!”
When seeing an old friend you haven’t seen for many years: “Hey, Brandon, I know you’re upset about going to prison for years for a crime I committed and framed you for, but there’s a really good explanation for all of this. To get that explanation, please just hold this knife and look angry.”
When seeing your former friend Brandon whom you had sent to prison for years for a crime you committed and framed him for: “I do not know you, stranger, my name is Gregory Peck. Not the Gregory Peck, but my name is Gregory Peck.”
When you are in a Mel Brooks movie with Gene Wilder and as a person of color you had been hiding behind a rock until he pulls you into the frame: “Yo, where the white women at?”
When you are writing your response to What Are You Playing: “I like cheese.”
Bonus question: What’s the weirdest thing you remember learning about recently?
Andy McAdams: Final Fantasy XIV for sure as I putz around and build up some hype for the release. And I dunno, my mouse has been hovering over Rimworld in my steam library quite a bit lately. I haven’t yet succumb to that siren song, but it might happen.
Weirdest thing I recently learned is that while I consider myself a life-long learner, there’s nothing especially of note jumping out that I’ve learned – at least something that’s not some weird technical idiosyncrasy from my day job.
Ben Griggs (@braxwolf): I’m probably going to continue working through the Elsweyr story in The Elder Scrolls Online. If I get tired of that, I might give World of Warships a try. My oldest son is obsessed with it and it looks like a fun game.
As far as something weird I’ve learned, here’s a glimpse into my boring adult life: did you know that the US government doesn’t tell you what your expected family contribution (EFC) is when you fill out the FAFSA form requesting aid for higher education? It’s like they don’t want you to know the formula they use. You can deduce it by applying for a school that’s way out of your price range and then subtracting the cost from the amount of aid offered, but if you request it for a school that’s already in your price range, they just say “sorry, you don’t qualify.” I find that strange.
Brianna Royce (@nbrianna, blog):Â Same for me, I’m content in Star Wars Galaxies Legends and City of Heroes. I kind of overdid it with Star Wars the last few weeks, so I might trim back on that a bit!
My husband’s listening to a podcast about Napoleon lately, which means I’m getting the highlights, and most of the personal history details are not anything I’d read before (I’m a historian, but Europe is not my specialty). I definitely didn’t know the circumstances of his marriage or that when he showed up for his first big command, he was handed invasion plans he himself had drawn up as a strategic officer years earlier.
Chris Neal (@wolfyseyes, blog): The usual puttering about in Final Fantasy XIV, with a sprinkling of MapleStory 2 as the recent update has me interested in climbing the level/power grade again, and some Warshade character leveling in City of Heroes: Homecoming.
Eliot Lefebvre (@Eliot_Lefebvre, blog): A bit more waiting-for-the-expansion in FFXIV and some puttering about in The Sims 4; I also caved and bought Blaster Master Zero the second it went up for sale on Steam, so I might play that too. It’s a busy weekend, but at least the school year is almost over.
I tend to learna bunch of stuff from both work and personal intrigue, so much so that it all washes over and gets absorbed in a steady flow of interesting tidbits. The most recent bit that I learned, though, was that mylar balloons produce explosions and power outages if they hit a power line. Never knew that, and I learned it while writing this article!
Justin Olivetti (@Sypster, blog): Lord of the Rings Online has me terribly busy with both Update 24 (on the normal server) and Siege of Mirkwood (on the progression server), so that will get the lion’s share of my time. After that, probably some Sims 4, Dungeons & Dragons Online grouping, and TESO questing in Elsweyr.
Mia DeSanzo (@neschria): My mousing hand is a bit sore from carpal tunnel release surgery yesterday, so I am going to do a lot of low-interaction activities in Black Desert Online – fishing and cooking, probably.
Samon Kashani (@thesamkash): This weekend may include some Fallout 76 if time permits. Also, I’m on the final “day” of the achievement for the skyscale in Guild Wars 2. So, hopefully, surely, I’ll be dragon back soon.
Pistachios, walnuts, and even peanuts aren’t actually nuts!
Tyler Edwards:Â More Grim Dawn. I finished the base game, and I’ve been tinkering with alts before moving on to expansions. Not sure I’ll stick with any of them, though. Diablo III has spoiled me with its Adventure Mode and how different all of the various classes are. It’s hard to be enthusiastic about replaying the same content with a character who’s hardly any different from my previous character.
Bonus question: I can’t recall learning anything especially weird in the recent past. Writing research has taken me down some weird paths in the past (like Googling “what does musk ox taste like” at 11 p.m.), but nothing recently that I can recall.
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!
