aabicus – The Daily SPUF

My First Day in Sea of Thieves

March 23, 2025March 25, 2025 aabicus 2 Comments first impressions, pirates, review, sea of thieves

Sea of Thieves has been on my radar for ages, not just because Retvik’s written multiple articles about the memorable adventures she’s experienced as a member of SPUFer Bacxaber’s crew. I’d also heard great things from multiple sources from very diverse gaming interests, and at least 2-3 different people on my friends list are in-game at any given point across the last 5+ years, which is usually a very good sign regarding the quality of a title. But still, I dragged my feet on wading in myself, and I’m not quite sure why. It might have been how many people… [Continue Reading]

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World of Peacecraft: The Neutral Pandaren Lifestyle

March 10, 2025March 23, 2025 aabicus 0 Comments doubleagent, grind, recap, warcraft, world, world of warcraft, wow

In both of my previous WoW articles, I claimed to have played only two characters for my entire on-and-off history with the game. This is essentially true, since the druid is Alliance and the warlock is Horde and that means I can interact with every part of the world between the pair. I’ve never really felt any urge to make more characters since leveling is my least-favorite part of the game. The only thing that ever tempted me to make a third character was learning about a specific quirk through which a player could theoretically reach max level without ever… [Continue Reading]

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How to Find the Age of Your World of Warcraft Character

March 9, 2025March 9, 2025 aabicus 0 Comments guide, warcraft, world, world of warcraft, wow

During a content lull in Final Fantasy XIV, I temporarily reactivated my WoW subscription to try the new War Within expansion. I’ve had a long on-and-off relationship with this game, having first installed it sometime in undergrad after they added the free trial and taking multiple years-long breaks in between sessions. Nonetheless my two toons, a zombie pirate warlock and a werewolf druid, have pretty storied careers since they’re the only ones I ever play, and like most players I’ve developed something of an affinity for my little guys. So it’s always bothered me that I can’t see their age… [Continue Reading]

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D&D Druid: 5 Wildshapes Your Dungeon Master Will Not Allow

June 4, 2024June 6, 2024 aabicus 0 Comments animals, d&d, Druid, Dungeons & Dragons, dungeons and dragons, Filler, roleplay, roleplaying

It’s not happening. All of these are completely rules-legal, but you’re still not gonna get to play as them. There’s no way your GM will sign off on them, unless they’re going for a completely nonsensical setting or don’t mind crippling power disparities. Look upon these Wildshapes, ye mighty, and despair: 1. The Haungharassk Starting with this one because I talked about it in a previous article! This giant snail has a golden shell and even shinier stats, able to carry 9 passengers, climb walls, grant temporary hitpoints and remove curses with a single touch. It is hideously overpowered for… [Continue Reading]

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Stardew Valley – The Pursuit of Perfection

May 2, 2024May 2, 2024 aabicus 0 Comments farming, perfection, stardew valley

Stardew Valley rocketed back into the gaming zeitgeist in March 2024 by releasing the much-awaited Update 1.6, which famously ballooned from its “minor quality-of-life patch for modders” beginnings when first announced. Like many players, I’d loved the game back in the day and created many fond memories in the valley, but new releases and the neverending search for novelty had pulled my attention to different (if not always greener) pastures. But the promise of fresh content brought me back, first to prepare my farm by whittling down my in-game bucket list, and second to save on Spring 1 of the… [Continue Reading]

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How to Turn Star Wars Battlefront II (2005) into a Single-Player Stealth Game

March 19, 2024June 4, 2024 aabicus 0 Comments battlefront, battlefront ii, battlefront ii 2005, custom, Filler, fluff, game mode, star wars, star wars battlefront ii

STAR WARS™: Battlefront Classic Collection just came out on Steam! I’ve mentioned in several places that the original Battlefront II was my very first gaming love, long before I’d ever played Team Fortress 2 or even created a Steam account. I never actually owned it, I played it (and its predecessor) exclusively on my friend’s Xbox, but our neighborhood gang racked up hundreds of hours playing them and they are incredible. Seriously, these two games are 500% worth playing, even if you just go buy the originals, they work perfectly and have tons of cool mods to boot. The gameplay is addicting and… [Continue Reading]

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The Roottrees Are Dead – Free Game Recommendation

January 13, 2024January 2, 2024 aabicus 0 Comments free game, free to play, recommendation, spoiler-free, The Roottrees Are Dead

A few months ago I got the exciting opportunity to playtest an in-development game by solo developer Jeremy Johnston. Despite having no idea what I was signing up for, I ended up really liking the final product and heartily recommend it to everyone! The Roottrees Are Dead is free and playable in-browser on itch.io, and currently has 5/5 stars with 189 user reviews! Taking place in the dial-up era of computer history, The Roottrees Are Dead stars a genealogist who’s hired by a mysterious woman to assemble a family tree for the Roottrees, a famous pedigree who made their fortune through an… [Continue Reading]

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Baldur’s Gate 3 – Review & Recommendation

January 11, 2024December 30, 2023 aabicus 0 Comments baldur's gate 3, bg3, Dungeons & Dragons, dungeons and dragons, early review, recommendation, review, rpg

Baldur’s Gate 3 is getting rave reviews from everyone, sweeping award shows and being called the Best Game of 2023 by multiple publications. And it’s really not hard to see why. Having played it myself, it honestly deserves all the praise it’s getting and it’s easily one of my personal favorite games of all time. 1. Deep Breadth of Content The first thing I noticed upon jumping into this game was how much it had to offer. With 11 races, 12 classes and 46 subclasses, your player character can wield a vast array of different playstyles, backstories, and appearances, and… [Continue Reading]

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The 3 Things That Appear in Every D&D Campaign

January 9, 2024April 23, 2024 aabicus 0 Comments Dungeons & Dragons, dungeons and dragons, Filler, roleplay

Now, I know that’s a very bold title to start off with. “Come on, aabicus,” I hear you saying, “There have been literally millions of D&D campaigns throughout history, with unfathomable amounts of premises and settings. How can you say for sure that anything has appeared in ALL of them?” Well, this is how. For the rest of this slow-news-day article, I’m gonna lay my case for why these three things (one weapon, one monster, and one treasure) have never failed to appear in any D&D campaign ever played, from one-shots to dungeon crawls to the most unfathomable genres and storylines you… [Continue Reading]

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3 Free Programs That Will Turn You Into a Video Editor (Updated 2024)

January 8, 2024June 12, 2024 aabicus 0 Comments 2024, advice, guide, recommendations, software, video, video editing, videos

Three years ago I wrote an article on my recommendations for people hoping to try their hand at video editing without paying anything. After advising a friend on that exact topic, I’ve reviewed my old article and found it largely out of date, and in desperate need of updating. So here are my new suggestions for what you should get while breaking into this exciting and fun field of study: 1. Open Broadcasting Software The one software to survive from the old article, OBS remains the fan-favored way to record game footage or your own screen, if you’re going the… [Continue Reading]

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