Tried to listen to the podcast earlier this week, so I can actually get here before the party ends, if you know what I mean, and get in on the conversation.
About the couple playing League of Legends, I feel you omitted one very crucial piece of advice. Play with friends! I'm not a LoL player myself, but my sister is, and she plays with her boyfriend, and a bunch of friends from work. I've been at their house while they were playing (and I was off in a corner of the room reading a comic), and it was a very calm and civilized game, with polite commands being transmitted via Skype. I also have a few clanmates who play LoL and they always play with teammates from the clan. Knowing the people on your team will go a loooooooong way to avoiding frustration with PUGs (pick up groups).
Also, I'm just so incredibly glad Justin brought up the cooking in Guild Wars 2. I'm still playing that game, and that mechanic has got to be one of my favorites in that game (or perhaps even of all time). It's just so quirky, I love mixing up the ingredients in the "discovery" part of the skill.
The more I hear about Tomb Raider, the more I want to try that game out. Will definitely keep an eye out for future sales (my pile is big enough as is, gonna try whittling it down first). Not really listening to all the rabid fans who are complaining to the reboot (in fact, hadn't really paid much attention or even noticed until you guys mentioned it - the forums I frequent nowadays are more sedate). For all their moaning, the game still got made, and if I'm not mistaken, it's still selling well.
I understand Susan's frustration with rogue-like games, but for me, that was the highest praise I could've given to FTL. Over and over, my crew suffocated because of a breach I couldn't repair on time, my ship got blown into tiny bits, my crew exterminated by space pirates... And yet, I kept coming back. Over and over. I was incredibly frustrated by the game, but I still wanted to play. And that, for me, is a true sign that they were doing something right.
Now about cultures and stereotypes... This is something that just makes me sigh and shake my head. As a product of two cultures, I spend most of my time defending one from the other, and vice versa. In the end, it's very difficult to get a sense of a culture when you're on the outside looking in, and my best piece of advice would be to get a passport (and barely a third of Americans have a passport, that's not a stereotype, that's fact - one which utterly baffles me) and to get out and go see the world. I know plane fare isn't cheap, but in some countries, a meal costs less than 5 bucks, and you can get a bed for ten. Just sayin'.
