Ask Paul: February the 13th ⭐

Happy Friday the 13th! It's been an unexpectedly crazy week, but we have a weekend to get to, and it's not going to kick off on its own.
?️ Gaming update
justme asks:

Have to ask: how are you finding Fallen Order?

I've played it for three hours or so, I guess. I really like it. The graphics hold up nicely, the plot seems solid, and it captures that Star Wars vibe nicely. I'm still easing (back) into making single player games like this part of my time playing games, but this is a good choice for me. My only issue is that you get tossed into this place and it's not always clear where to go next so you can keep going. And that is not unique for me, I think it's my only limitations.

Epic Games is having a winter sale now so I also bought Silent Hill 2 Remake for half off. I'm into horror but it's been a while since I've played a scary game that I've liked, and Silent Hill f isn't quite cutting it. (There's also a new Resident Evil game coming out at the end of the month.) This one started off better for me (than f) but after a couple of hours of wandering around a mostly empty city, I keep running into that same issue, which is familiar and unwelcome, which is figuring out where to go and what to do next so I can keep progressing. There's one segment where you've spent a lot of time running around and there's never been any way to go between any of the houses, but in this case there is one way through between two houses, and it's like seriously. I've stopped even looking and now there's one way through?

I feel like my brain isn't wired correctly for this kind of thing. But I will try to move forward with both of these games. Even if I have to look up walkthroughs every once in a while.

Anyway. Yes, Star Wars: Fallen Order is solid, and I assume they will finish this as a trilogy at some point. But I will keep playing this and Silent Hill 2 as possible. And Call of Duty, of course. I need to work out my frustrations somewhere.
?️ Discord and rhyme, I howl and I whine, I'm after you
christianwilson

Have you ever considered a Discord server, even if it was restricted as a Premium subscription perk or is the comments section and forums enough to deal with?

I hadn't, but I guess I'm not against it per se. It would almost have to be the Wild West, though, there is no way I could keep on top of that or moderate it in any way. I feel like there was an OpenWeb chat capability I was considering for the future, but I stopped even thinking about that. And now, of course, we're moving on, so I guess that doesn't matter anymore. But I don't even know where to start with this or whether there is any broader interest. I'm listening, of course.

Speaking of which ...
⭐ To premium or not to premium, that is the question
Tiny asks:

Not a big thing, but I’ve always been curious on how you determine if a post is premium.

When we started Thurrott Premium, we were probably a year or more into Thurrott.com and the ability to...