June 5th, 1997: I was attending a local fishing convention with my father when Al Pacino emerged from the crowd and offered to sell me a clarinet for only $50. When asked if it was cursed, he shrugged and responded “maybe a little.” After I said no he dropped it and ran; a fisherman at the convention described the clarinet as “extremely cursed.”
October 18th, 2004: My girlfriend at the time and I were in an Ocean State Job Lot store when Al Pacino ran in, punched out the cashier, and offered to throw a clarinet in for just $20 because we were buying enough stuff. The manager came over and told Al to take a break, at which point I was barred from the store. To quote the manager: “We don’t need award-winning Hollywood actors assaulting our employees to sell cursed instruments to you.”
March 3rd-10th, 2011: Al Pacino slept in the back of my car (I don’t know how he got in there) and tried for a week to sell me a visibly glowing clarinet for just $10, damn it, why are you being so difficult? When I finally convinced him to leave he shut the passenger side door so hard the child lock engaged. And that’s why I’m late for work today, Your Honor. What Are You Playing?
Bonus question: If you could get any scent made into a scented candle, what would you pick?
Andy McAdams: I’m not sure – I’ve got some IRL stuff going on so it will definitely be less. I think I’ll be playing The Elder Scrolls Online and Rimworld and maybe playing around with Void Gauntlet in New World. Maybe.
Bonus Question: Book store? I walked into Barnes and Noble last weekend for the first time since COVID and got hit with the smell of all those books and immediately remembered how much I love it.
Brianna Royce (@nbrianna, blog): I’ve promised my kids we’ll play some City of Heroes; my son just got his assault bot on his bots toon, so he wants to play more! I’ve also got a ton of Star Wars Galaxies Legends crafting and restocking ahead of me before Thanksgiving when I know I’m gonna get cleaned out. Beyond that, honestly, I am working overtime on holiday content!
Wax and perfume are one of my secret little side hobbies, so I probably have smelled damn near everything. My favorites are things with nutmeg or salty popcorn, both of which are surprisingly hard to find in isolation. I’ve also yet to smell a petrichor note that actually fools me.
Chris Neal (@wolfyseyes, blog): On a random whim I picked up Super Robot Wars 30 and it is the extra mecha anime nonsense strategy title I never knew I needed in my life. As for stuff from our genre, it’s mostly all about Forza Horizon 5 again and maybe a dip or two back into New World as I continue to investigate the Void Gauntlet.
This is going to be a weird one, but there is this simple dish my mother always used to make of boiled chicken thighs, rice, and bechamel with nutmeg. It was always one of my favorite meals and having that in scented candle form would be extremely comforting I think.
Eliot Lefebvre (@Eliot_Lefebvre, blog): I’ve mostly finished with my prep in Final Fantasy XIV ahead of the expansion, but I’ll probably wind up dipping in just out of habit. Other than that, it depends on a couple of things that may come together this weekend and my general whims.
If I could bottle the scent of sniffing a warm kitty tummy, I would.
Tyler Edwards (blog): New World. I’m absolutely loving the Void Gauntlet so far. It’s like they condensed everything I like in an RPG down into a single weapon. The rapier buffs are really nice too, but honestly I’m not sure I even need a secondary weapon at this point.
Bonus question: Similar to Andy’s answer but more specific. You know that spicy smell that really old books get? That.
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!
