Soag

Haven't played it but 1st thing that comes to my mind is BeamNG.drive ;).

Mount & Blade?

On the contrary you seem to not want to use Discord for some reason. At least that's what I'm hearing... I've been using 'out-of-platform' communication tools for a very long time. Teamspeak 2, then Teamspeak 3 and finally Discord. Having a totally free server just for the sake of communication, which can have a number of channels for different purposes, completely customizable to your liking, done once and that's it - no need to manage that any further makes things so much easier. Whilst on Steam you need to join that certain group previously created or send invites to people you want to talk with. If that's just one person then sure, that will do. But for more people or creating a small community it will never be a thing. I can launch PC with the thought of playing particular game, join a channel created just for it, even if there are no people in it, and that's it. If someone wants to play they just join, say hi and we can kick it off any moment as a duo. Or trio, so on and so forth, completely maintenance-free. I can see friends just chatting and join in on the conversation, just for the sake of having a conversation even when we're playing different titles or not playing at all, just doing some stuff on the PC. We have a text channel visible for everyone on the server and can use that for various purposes. From sharing funny, interesting stuff we found on the net or otherise. To hook up for a gaming session somewhere further down the line or whatever else we want. And it's completely independent of whether I want to play a Steam, Epic, Origin, GoG, Ubi Connect (Uplay was a much better name :P) game or one with a standalone client. Plus there's no need to start any gaming client at all to see what's up. Just a ton of pros and no cons to be found...

I'd say the go-to method is Discord servers for games you're into. You'll find at least one person per server who will fit you characteristically, I'd say. Also, from my experience, Among Us, when played with the same people, seems to break the ice real quick. And some of he people playing games you typically play might jump into that one from time to time as well ;).

Definitely ABZU, although it's really short. Subnautica is really chill most of the time. I really enjoyd my time with Vanishing of Ethan Carter but it's another short one (2-3h) and from what I've seen What Remains of Edith Finch seems to have a similar vibe. I still haven't managed to start my playthrough of Outer Wilds but this ight interest you as well. Or dive deep into indie titles, there's a shitload of gems in there and ones which caught my eye were e.g. Spiritfarer, Solar Ash, Road 96, Existensis, Dordogne, Sable or some of the well known ones like Gris, Undertale, Papers, please, Disco Elysium

Old versions of titles included in GTA Trilogy are apparently coming back in their original versions to digital stores. https://www.pcgamer.com/rockstar-apologizes-for-gta-trilogy-issues-makes-the-old-versions-of-gta-available-again/

Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a very nice game but it's a 2-3h complete walkthrough. Long Dark was free on Epic a while ago, so maybe you or someone from your close friends already owns it. Am currently playing through this one myself (story mode) and I'd say it's a good game, but not really the 'journey' type. Everybody's Gone to the Rapture is apparently reeeally short as well. As for the other ones I have no idea. What do you think about adding Return of the Obra Dinn to the list of potential candidates?

What your comment adds to the discussion? How it provides a counterargument to my comment? As far as I know both of these games have keyboard support and there's absolutely no requirement to use a controller on PC. It might be more comfortable, but I did cover that with 'just a matter of preference if one chooses to use something else'. I'm eagerly waiting for a response.

None. If it's a PC game, it has m/k support, so you can use it. There's absolutely no 'have to', just a matter of preference if one chooses to use something else.

And nobody mentioned first 2 Mafia games...

I don't get it. If you want to play it, then play it. What's stopping you?

A colleague of mine was constantly kicked out of the matches as well. None of the suggestions provided in some guides worked, even the 'clear cache' one which seemed more in-depth than 'fix the file integrity', 'restart connection', 'restart PC' etc. What actually ended up helping was found in a comment section of one of those articles and it was about disabling particle effects in options. I think in case of my colleague those were shadows, but my memory might not be accurate. While surfing for solutions I also found some comments from people who dealt with it via GPU drivers update/downgrade, although the majority had success while upgrading that obviously depends on GPU in question. Here's the article with the comment I mentioned: https://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmagic/rocket-league-crashing.html Copy of the comment (just in case article/comment gets deleted): Alejandro Dirksen • a year ago OK, I have had this issue since the 2020 release when it became free on Epic games and I actually thought nothing will work. Eventually, this combination below here is what worked: 1. Open CMD as administrator and type sfc/scannow. Make sure all issues are fixed or repair windows by reinstalling it using the media tool. Hopefully you don't have to go that far but I had to. 2. Run Epic Games or whatever launcher you have as an administrator. Do not run the Rocket league game as administrator as this cause the game to not even launch at all. Run rocket league in compatibility mode for windows 8. 3. Make sure your drivers are Up to Date. I checked all of them on device manager in control panel and one by one checked for update on each. 4. This is by far the most important step. After checking event viewer and the log files for the game, it appeared that the culprit was a particle component of the game so I turned off all particle effects including the weather effects and this is what finally stabilized the game and stopped the crashes. I hope these helps, note that these were not all the things I tried but were the most relevant in solving the issue. Hope that helps you ;).

Saints Row 3 Remaster is still free today on Epic. Grab it and check it out. Apart from that maybe MORDHAU or Chivalry to switch up that FPS a little bit? Forza, Fallen Order?

As a titbit - ok, interesting. As for the game - don't bother.

So I've got a Logitech Z533. Some time ago I noticed the problem - as the product was very close to end of the warranty period. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find the receipt and complain. Now it's past that period anyways so I was hoping someone might be able to point me in the right direction so I could get that fixed myself. So what's it all about? The thing is when I turn them on they work just fine but after a brief period (haven't counted that actually) the right speaker kinda 'goes off'. It still receives AC as it buzzes but doesn't give off any sound. It's definitely not a speaker problem as I tried switching left and right and it was still the same channel it wasn't working on. In this setup both speakers as well as volume control are connected to subwoofer. That volume control thingy has a jack input for headphones as well and when those are connected the right channel behaves just as speakers - no sound for it. I was wondering if it's maybe some resistor inside? As far as I know resistance changes with temperature so maybe when it gets hot enough no signal goes through anymore? Just a thought, might be too far off, though.

Hah, seems I will place second on the list as far as chronological order of release date goes (after Pong). Few days ago I just finished the very 1st Tomb Raider game (1996). Actually after giving a 2013 version a shot I thought it's atrocious I still haven't played these games through so I bought all but the latest one on Steam on sale (cheap as heck) and am going through the whole series to create my own opinion on it. Before that I only had a brief experience with Tomb Raider 2 years ago - you know, the one where you close a butler in the freezer :D. Apart from that I also get back to HoMM 3 and Starcraft from time to time. Actually this thread just gave me an idea to introduce my kid to HoMM 3 and play a session with him :D.

Some time ago I've seen Rocket Sledge's video about it. Looking at the video desciption and pinned comment joining the linked Discord channel should give you answers you need. Here's the video:

The idea of verified authentication method - or something similar - lines up with you not receiving 2FA messages when they get it. Also, how come their accounts aren't banned, yet? Haven't you made screenshots of those messages they leave you and added that info for support team? They should even be able to check their connection details and permaban them from accessing Origin. It's not like they plan to spend money there anyways. Ofc unless they use something to change their details e.g. VPN.

Reviews are harsh. Curious to hear an opinion from someone who actually bought it.

As for the ones already mentioned: Minecraft - seems like a good idea and there's tons of mods but isn't cheap and might be addictive Celeste - was given out on Epic so if the kid has an online access he might already have it Ori - IMO very good proposition although he might lose interest as he'll most likely die a lot. On the other hand you can save very often and dying a lot might teach him patience Cave Story - don't know that one Thomas was Alone - same as above My propositions: Portal - is cheap, mechanically a puzzle/problem solving game, has decent story and has a co-op This War of Mine - a lesson of harsh reality, involves micromanagement/planning, very simple mechanically, teaches how devastating war really is without any graphical elements (no gore, blood splashing, etc.) Valiant Hearts: The Great War - aesthetically pleasing, history served well (just let him know there are 'pickups' to look for), a story he WILL remember (so you will give him a nice childhood memory) World of Goo - cheap, mechanically simple, problem solving with GREAT physics Subnautica - calming gameplay (except for leviathans), survival-type (but easily managable), very interesting world, kid would be super interested (I'm playing it right now and both my kids - 9 and 4 - are super into it and I let them watch without a care in the world Trailmakers - a LEGO-like idea of building vehicles in order to complete challenges with them, brings out creativity Deep Rock Galactic - be a dwarf, dig for resources solo or in a co-op manner (teams up to 4 players), online, heard the community is great and wholesome Bard: A tale of Two Sons - haven't played it, heard a lot and from the latter I think it might be a good position but please review on your own before making a purchase Descenders - hop on a bike and go downhill, as simple as that in randomly generated environments Kerbal Space Program - a game about building space ships and sending them into space - should be self explanatory As a bonus I'd mention Rocket League as it would be the only true multiplayer one from my suggestions but only a mention given it's free and to me it sounds weird to gift something that is free already...

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice Rocket League Played Gartic Phone with the crew yday as well ;).

Aim Lab is free, so I guess you could start with it and see how well does that work for you. Kovaak, as far as I know, has more scenarios so potentially should be better. But if you buy it and then end up running it once that would be a waste of money IMO.

Ultimate Chicken Horse is a great ad hoc game that runs for ~7USD on sales. Apart from that there's Warframe, CS:GO and planty other free games. Depends what she would like.. Also, Spelunky Classic is free and with Spelunky SD mod you can play online with a friend :).

Metro Exodus, Ori (both parts, actually, even though 1 has 6 years already), Control

I've been thinking about it, came up with few titles I enjoyed which are graphically really dated (Heart of Darkness, ONI, NOLF 2, MoH:AA) but then I thought how they done some of the old games I enjoyed with remakes and remasters and I'm not so sure I'd really like to see that... There was always something that didn't seem right to me. And those old games were what I cherished anyways and modern graphics or not they still have a special place in my memory. On the other hand, a next entry in the franchise done with new technology and especially in the spirit of its predecessors sounds really tempting. HoD 2, ONI 2, NOLF 3 - I'd definitely play those. Although, now that I think about it there are 3/4 titles I'd like to see updated graphically, but graphically only I believe: Dark Forces 1 & 2 as one game KOTOR 1 KOTOR 2 And maybe 2 online games I enjoyed A LOT given they would look nicer and had a decent playerbase: Wolfenstein: ET S4 League