WRUP: Reasons you should not punch a goat edition

1. Goats are our friends.
2. Goats provide milk which may be turned into soft and delicious cheeses.
3. It’s really more unusual to think of reasons why you would want to punch a goat, as the goat has almost certainly done nothing to harm you.
4. Goats have long memories and the allegiance of Bin-Y’thak, the Crow of Eld, meaning that your offense could call down the hordes of black wings which will lay pestilence upon both your house and your fields.
5. You are capable of resolving your problems with this goat with words.
6. The goat might strike you back, and in that scenario the goat would be justified, not you.
7. Mange.
8. What Are You Playing is avowedly pro-goat.

Bonus question: What character from a children’s show do you first remember identifying with?

​Andrew Ross (@dengarsw): Pokemon Go, hard. Maybe it’s a mistake with the level cap lifting on Monday and new pokemon appearing Wednesday, but I feel like I was the turkey this year, so these calories have got to go. Animal Crossing may get a little attention if I can manage to sit up.

I’ve mentioned before that I wasn’t allowed to watch a lot of TV as a kid, and honestly, I can’t remember really identifying with any characters. Like, there were characters I liked and idolized, but identified with, especially as a mixed kid in the late 80s/early 90s… that’s really hard to answer. The best I can think of is Raphael from the 1992 live action Ninja Turtles movie, but I was almost a teenager when that happened. I had always liked Donatello because he was smart, but I remember finally feeling like I really “saw” Raph, that he meant well and wanted to be out with people, but had a lot of anger and his “parent” worried about how people would treat him, and that resonated with me. The few shows specifically for kids might have been entertaining, but they represented worlds I wanted to join, not really ones that felt relatable (aside from X-Men).

Andy McAdams: I’ll be romping around the Shadowlands – which so far is surprisingly good. The flow is a bit jarring after you move from zone to zone, but it feels intentional to me as opposed to a narrative faceplant. I’m interspersing my time in World of Warcraft with Oxygen Not Included because I’m a glutton for punishment and have a weakness for colony sims.

Bonus question: Uhh, hrm. Well my favorite cartoon growing up was Tiny Toons. (Maybe growing up? I dunno when I never really stopped watching cartoons for entertainment.) But I remember being really into the environmental activism of Tiny Toons

Brianna Royce (@nbrianna, blog): I’ve been in both my favorite MMOs this weekend – Star Wars Galaxies Legends and City of Heroes – in between working on house projects and eating holiday cake. Cake! I expect that to continue. I spent a ton of time prepping factory runs in SWG last week, so my time in there is aimed at restocking vendors before I disappear for a while, and in CoH, I’m on a mastermind roll.

I honestly can’t remember identifying with any character from a children’s show, which in retrospect isn’t surprising since children’s shows back then were insane, overt advertisements for toys, where now much more of the programming aimed at littles is more subtle. Books and movies, though, definitely. If I could pick one now, based on all the shows my kids watched, it’d be Sarah from Sarah & Duck!

Chris Neal (@wolfyseyes, blog): Doing a bit of RP stuff in Final Fantasy XIV in an effort to kick off some personal plotline things for my character and fold folks in if they want, but that really is kind of about it. Honestly, I think I need a vacation from gaming for a bit.

I think I most closely associated with Vegeta because he’s got an admirable (if sometimes poorly directed) drive, frustrates pretty explosively when things go wrong, but ultimately gets back up to try again – traits that I saw in myself then and still have now.

Eliot Lefebvre (@Eliot_Lefebvre, blog): Between getting some games in the Steam sale and FFXIV and WoW, I’m pretty well set for the weekend. Probably more FFXIV than anything, though.

It’s probably kind of sad, but I always really identified with Wilbur from the animated adaptation of Charlotte’s Web. I always felt odd and awkward and unwelcome to begin with, and it felt nice to have a story in which someone cared enough to make an effort for that one weird outcast.

Sam Kash (@thesamkash): I’ve officially decided to put Hollow Knight down. A much longer game than I ever imagined, but satisfying to finally call complete (complete enough). I’ve had Guild Wars 2 queued up for some duo play, but I’ve just been too busy to make any time for it. I think I just about have Albion Online mobile set up, so the plan is to play that. We’ll see.

Bonus: Michaelangelo – cause he’s a party dude!

Tyler Edwards (blog): I’m still working on finishing the DLC for Control, and I recently signed up for the PC version of Xbox Gamepass to try out some new stuff. I’m not a huge fan of game subscription services in the long term, but they’re a great low-investment way to try out a bunch of games and see which are worth buying.

Bonus question: I’m… not sure I ever really identified with a character on a kids’ show? The first TV show character I can clearly remember feeling any sort of personal affinity with was Hoshi on Star Trek: Enterprise.

Patron Pierre: I’m back in Destiny 2 with the launch of the Beyond Light extension and season of the hunt. I haven’t played for a few months, almost a year probably. I played so much of this game that I think I really needed a long pause. It’s so good to be back. Bungie are so talented creating visceral punchy combats, it’s really fun. They developed a new “new player experience”, trying to explain the newcomer a very rich lore in just a few quests, and it’s really a challenge. This new NPE is a little better than the former one, but anyone who didn’t play Destiny and didn’t watch a “player’s digest” video summarizing the lore and the story so far will still be lost when talking to some NPCs. But you know what, it’s not a real issue as you’re not in Destiny to be told an interesting story, but for the fun of the fights. TLDR: I’m having a treat coming back to this game.

I’m also in episode 3 of Life is Strange. Still in my top three of the best games ever (probably #2 after The Last of Us parts I & II). Playing this game relaxes me a lot in very busy and stressing times at work. Finally, I’m playing Outer Wilds. I now understand why so many people consider this one as an exceptional game. I join the Clan and deeply recommend playing it. I will not tell you more about why you should play it, just so you have the surprise of discovering it without any bit of spoiler.

Bonus question: I remember watching a lot of Goldorak, one of the first animes that was broadcasted on TV in France a very long time ago (yes I’m old). I remember being really fond of and identifying to the main hero, Actarus, because he saved planet Earth so many times, even if it wasn’t his native planet.

And you MOP readers? What are you playing this holiday weekend? Let us know in the comments and enjoy.

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!