So, what are you playing?

The Outer Worlds writing team beat out Outer Wilds and Disco Elysium to take home a Nebula Award. You'll have to read further than the headline, but Venture Beat says, "We overestimate the value of the console exclusive." And one NPR writer was an abject failure in school, until stuff she'd learned while playing video games had her suddenly start passing tests.

So, what are you playing?

Sean Colleli
I've been playing a fun mod for Don't Starve called AC is Broken, Don't Die of Heat Exhaustion. So I've had very little energy to do anything but my day job this week. AC is fixed now. The most I've played was like an hour of Deus Ex last night once the glorious coolness had returned.

Eric Hauter
I've finished up with Maneater for review, which should now be live on Gaming Nexus. Though this innovative game has some technical problems, I still enjoyed it quite a bit. I'm currently resisting jumping back in to try to 100% it, as it would be a lot of time spent for no real reward beyond a platinum trophy (which I have never really cared about). My shark is maximum level, and I have every bit of gear that I want for my build, so I can't see much motivation to dive back in now that the story is beaten. Still...the ocean calls.

I've also been picking at the XCOM 2 Collection on Switch. I figure I'm around halfway through the base game, but I haven't touched the DLCs yet. There is a ton of content in these games, so that one might be a bit longer. 

And of course, I've been dipping into The Elder Scrolls Online once a day to just cruise around and keep my head in that space. Elder Scrolls Online drops on Stadia on the 16th of June, and I want to be ready to jump right in. I've completed the opening island 100%, and I have a horse now. When I automatically got my horse at level 10, I spent a moment remembering everything I went through to get a mount in old school World of Warcraft. Good lord, that game made you work for it.

Randy Kalista
In Fallout: New Vegas—a 10-year-old classic that I hadn't given the time of day to, at least until quarantine started lifting on a global pandemic, if that makes any sense—I'm having fun. Never thought it would happen to me. 

I resented a lot of things about New Vegas compared to Fallouts 3 and 4. I resented that New Vegas didn't let me "go anywhere and do anything," which is a hallmark of Bethesda open world design, but not Obsidian's. I resented that critics allow New Vegas to write its way out of bugs that crash my entire computer almost hourly. And I especially resented the inclusion of a convoluted card game that was indecipherable at best, and still gave me a "Caravan Master" Steam Achievement for 30 wins when I still don't understand the game 100 percent. 

But man, something flipped the switch. Now I appreciate the slow narrative buildup as I'm routed in a horseshoe shape around the southern half of the map, then coming up to toss a ringer around the Lucky 38 tower. Now I appreciate the complete tonal flip between my companions, with Boone being the tight-lipped sniper that keeps his physical and emotional distance in all things, versus Veronica who's the loose-lipped brawler, closing in on enemies and disclosing faction and family secrets with reckless abandon. And hey, did I mention that only 1.5 percent of Steam users get that achievement for 30 wins in Caravan? Even if it took me 10 years to turn around, the hook brings you back. Thanks, Blues Traveler.