The M14

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The term ‘battle rifle’ refers to any military-grade rifle that fires a full-power cartridge. They’re heavier than assault rifles, have stronger recoils and often default to semi-automatic, meaning that their usage has died down considerably and they callback to the WWII era of weaponry. That being said, they’re still found in all branches of the American military today, and with the M14 being one of the most famous battle rifles, its lengthy career has made it a standard sight in the arsenals of various first-person shooters. Due to its roots as a battle rifle, it’s a popular choice for filling the “semi-auto… [Continue Reading]

Slipping into flip-flops

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Since these two cosmetics are rather similar, I’ll be talking about them together. Today’s article will be about the Flip-Flops for the Scout and the Aqua Flops for the Heavy. The Flip-Flops are a pair of bright yellow flip-flops for Scout, and is available for purchase during the Summer Camp Sale in 2011 along with another Scout exclusive the Lucky No. 42 and the all-class Summer Hat. The Aqua Flops made its debut a year later in the Mecha Update along with Carl and Hunger Force as a reference to the Adult Swim character Carl Brutananadilewski. The Aqua Flops are based off the… [Continue Reading]

Lowglow

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After a run of bad multiplayer matches in several games on my PS4, I looked for a calm, stress-reliever type game… Which is when I realised I didn’t actually have one. My friends I’d played with had all jumped on Stardew Valley, understandably, considering it’s so soothing and addicting that it borders on being illegal. Meanwhile, the closest thing to that for me was Darkest Dungeon simply due to it being turn-based. Don’t let that name trick you though. Staggeringly, it isn’t about gentle strolls through meadows filled with fluffy creatures. But on STEAM, I found this dusty, uninstalled gem.… [Continue Reading]

The College of Winterhold

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While fighters and knight-like characters have the Companions, rogues have the Thieves Guild and assassins have the Dark Brotherhood, mages have the College of Winterhold as their place to practice magic and other silly things. It’s a great place to do potentially really, really dangerous things. Unfortunately, it’s not exactly… impressive. Quick warning, spoilers ahead, but you knew that. The College of Winterhold is located in Winterhold, obviously. Really, it’s the only thing IN Winterhold, apart from a couple of houses. Considering that it’s the only thing that’s intact in the small, formerly busy town, there’s a lot of suspicion… [Continue Reading]

Not Really Second Life

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Idling around in Second Life

Second Life is an ancient thing. I remember seeing adverts for it when I first joined the internet on my own in 2007, advertising that you can live out your fantasies because it’s your second life, completely separate from your first (i.e. real) life. Turns out, it was created all the way back in 2003, and it still has one million active users. Where those active users are, I have no idea. I know that aabicus is not an active member, he only really went there for educational reasons, and will one day write an epic article about his adventures.… [Continue Reading]

Cadaver’s Cranium

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The Cadaver’s Cranium shambles into the game during Scream Fortress 2010. It is based on the popular portrayal of the Frankenstein’s monster, and is an extra half a head rather crudely stapled onto the Heavy’s head, with thin black hair covering the extra scalp. Last I check, hair transplant isn’t supposed to include a large chunk of the skull with it. The Cadaver’s Cranium is a hat that holds a special place in my heart, as mine was a gift from a stranger when I was still very, very new. Years ago, a young, fresh-faced and newly premium’ed Warlock decided… [Continue Reading]

The Daily SPUF Thread Hits 10K Replies!

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We're still partying here in the Steam Powered User Forums!

It’s an achievement 3 years, 3 months and 26 days in the making…the Official Daily SPUF thread just received its 10,000th reply! That’s 1213 days in total, which coincidentally is the name of the first indie adventure game I ever played and highly recommend to any fans of the genre. The 10,000th post came on the 667th page (assuming you’re using the archaic ’15-replies per page’ default setting. It’s 2017! Bump that bad boy up to forty!), just passing the Number of the Beast. This makes the Daily SPUF thread the only current thread in the main SPUfspace with a quintuple-digit reply count,… [Continue Reading]

On the endless repeating of mobile games

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Not Pokemon GO

After three years, my first generation Moto G phone was dying. I needed to upgrade, and now I have this awesome Honor 5C. Great phone, comes with the most features for its £125 price tag and it means I can finally run some new apps on my phone, with its 8gb onboard memory and up to 128gb SD Card slot, if I need it. Of course, my first stop was looking at games, something I hadn’t had on my phone for a looong time. But as I looked though the Play Store, because I’m an Android fangirl, I realised something.… [Continue Reading]

Why Rotom Is Best Pokemon

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I already wrote an article on Rattata, my favorite Pokemon, but I also have a favorite ‘useful Pokemon’, ie my favorite who is actually viable in combat and can slot into teams with a goal of helping beat the game. It also happens to be the Pokemon I would pick if I got to keep one in real life. It’s Rotom! Rotom originated in Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, and could only be obtained after beating the Elite Four. The Old Chateau is a haunted mansion with a dark and troubled past, and a single Rotom would attack you if you mess with… [Continue Reading]

A Farewell to my AlphaSmart

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A while ago I wrote an article about my most sentimental possession. A word processor that I’ve used to write almost every single article you’ve read on this blog, not to mention dozens of short stories, scripts, NaNoWriMo novels, journal entries, college essays, and other writing easily totaling in the millions of words. I bought my AlphaSmart freshman year of college eight years ago and it’s been with me through some of the most important years of my life. But recently it’s started skipping letters while I type with it, which means it’s time to retire the oldest piece of… [Continue Reading]