Hello everyone and welcome back to beta males the show where we play a bunch of beta games Let you know if they're worth playing if they're gonna last the pros cons what we liked about all that good stuff And this week we played splitgate, which is a sort of First-person shooter, but it has portals involved if you ever played the game portals It's like if you it plays like unreal looks like halo, but it has portals in it And it's by 1047 games started out very small studio. They could be considered triple A now I think they've raised over a hundred and twenty million dollars to fund this game and They started a start to two guys in a dorm room, and that's what the 1047 comes from address of their dorm room So let's get right into it I'm the man goose with me as always is the Viking Jedi and with me as sometimes is Jelly knees. He's not a permanent member of the cast in Anyway, so let's talk about let's go around to talk about is this game worth it Should you download it and play it? It is a free game Viking Jedi lead it lead us off I am going to say Yes, I Hesitate only in a little bit, and it's because it's an FPS game, and I know a lot of people Or not fans of FPS So with that caveat said if you're if you don't mind first-person shooters this game probably will fit Something that you'll enjoy. It's got it like Very fast-paced combat Manga is really nailed it on the head It kind of feels like unreal tournament mixed with Halo mixed with portal You know and there's a lot of potential for outplays and the game modes are really really intuitive There's casual play, you know ranked play So being in beta at this point and having a lot of these things kind of already in the game and ready for Players to enjoy I would say yeah absolutely put some hours into it See if it's something that speaks to you Jelene's I would say yeah that people should definitely Pick up this game if it's if it looks interesting to them they enjoy FPS games and all that kind of stuff the only similarly the only thing like makes me hesitate to recommend it at the same time is There are aspects of FPS games that are already frustrating right when you get killed and you didn't see somebody when you Whatever it is When you add portals into the mix of an FPS game Those aspects are ramped up to 11 sure because now they shot a portal behind you and shot you through the portal Right and so then it just feels awful sometimes to get killed And so if that turns you off of other FPS games probably isn't the one for you Yeah, because that just like I said is way more constant way more ramp throughout the game But otherwise I I'd recommend it for sure. Uh, yeah, I would also I would also recommend this game It's really easy to pick up and play so just anybody just playing the game Well, I think can have fun with it. The tutorial was super good um If you keep met if you fail at whatever they're trying to get you to do they show you a little video showing you what you were supposed to do and To to spur you along um The the main thing he failed to jump across a like two inch gap Here's here's what I failed at here's what I failed at it said to teleport behind the enemy It didn't say anything about hitting the enemy So I teleported behind them and I'm like, okay. Well, I did it So I teleported back and then teleport I thought it was like bugged or something Then it showed me a video you're supposed to teleport behind them and punch them in the head twice. I'm like, oh, okay Okay, so yeah, I did mess up the tutorial just a little bit, but um I don't know. Yeah, it's a it's a it's a crazy fun game Um, I think the hallmark of a good game is the ability to think of cool Shit and then actually do cool shit and you can definitely do some pretty cool shit In this game and the in the aim is just very very forgiving for new players Like if I can headshot people then anybody can headshot people So that's uh, I think that's definitely a plus for the game So let's move in let's talk about what we liked about portals and then we'll get into what we disliked about portals So, uh jelly knees you want to start us out? What did you like about portals? Um, so I think our split gate. I keep saying I knew what you meant. It's okay. It's okay Um, I've worked with you long enough even though I'm not a permanent cast member on this show. I get it Um, but I think Overall, I really enjoy the game I really like the idea of using portals and like you said It's the idea of thinking of doing something cool and then executing that thing Right, I mean, I was just talking to you before we recorded mangoes Like I found a way to sit perfectly in a portal Kind of floating up in the air and I could just shoot people from above and I'm sure that's not intended But it was fun and that's all that matters, right? And so it's and stuff like that like being able to They have certain maps that you can take your momentum, right?  And if you can get a kill while doing that even cooler, right? Like all around Really really cool idea And I think they've really executed the portals well because it that gimmick could have easily gone very poorly especially with a a Small dev team like they had early on right that that gimmick could have gotten very poorly very fast And I think they've done a good job of putting the portal areas around the map where you can and can't teleport The gun plays pretty good most of the time. So I think they've done a good job overall. What about you biking? Yeah, I mean I echo that. I think the main thing for this game is the portaling. Um, I think that's really, um Where the skill skill cap of the of the player is really going to shine Um, I think most of our games where we got a chance to play we would very rarely like get out gun Quote-unquote like we would win a lot of if it's just like, you know, me versus the team as far as just shooting Uh, we would win a lot or or come at least even it was when we went up against the team that really understood Not only their team play, but how to use the portals efficiently Um, and so I think that was uh, that's a very very cool aspect But also like, you know, very difficult to master. Um, and so there's there's a lot of Interesting parts to that. Um, and in this game you can go through enemy portals You can go through your teammates portals. You can close your portals afterwards I was watching a guy, um, and he was doing some crazy He was teleporting across the map closing one opening another closing another one So you couldn't be chased around and just flying all over the place and it was like, what is this? Like it's like watching a portal speedrun or something like the guy was Insane and it but that's super cool Like I like that that guy is being rewarded for his hand-eye coordination and understanding of the physics of the portals and There's a lot of outplay potential. I saw I saw a clip on their twitter of a guy who took a Put portals on each side of himself and took a rocket launcher and launched the rocket through it And it was just sending the rocket And some some random enemy just came walking by didn't know what was going on and got hit by the rocket Perfect big fan of that. It just was really funny But it kind of gives you guys like an idea of like the stuff that is possible in this game It is very very neat. Um, one thing is just like in portals You can't shoot your portal through a portal So you have to be actually physically through the the plane of the portal to be able to do it But outside of the portals, I think the gunplay is actually pretty good too I wouldn't say that any other than you know, like, um I'd say maybe the the rocket launchers obviously always going to feel a little Not fun when you're the one getting hit by it, but super fun when you're the one doing it So that's just rocket launchers. I think in any game it's going to always feel like that But I think in like the core of the game. So like your sniper rifles your shotguns your smg's your pistols All of those I think feel good overall and like mangu said the the forgiveness of the you know recoil and management in that regard is Absolutely there if you get good at it, you'll tap heads But even if you're not necessarily always hitting headshots, you'll still feel like you can Participate in the damage But yeah, that that stuff it's fast very very fast super super fun Um, also very very frustrating In certain parts, but I think that's also what it should be about in an fps so it's like to me the frustration is a good and bad thing but uh, Yeah, the portals are very very much the centerpiece. I think of what makes this game in this Environment of fps is super unique and and fun. Um that in the game modes the game modes. I think are also Really cool. They got almost like every halo game mode that I can think of and it's Their own version of it, but really cool. What about you mingus? Yeah, that's that's what I was going to mention is the variety in this game You have a pretty large variety of weapons. You got a large variety of skins and stuff that you can buy if you want to That's how they monetize this through cosmetics and through a battle pass and stuff Unfortunate they have drops, but we'll get to that when we talk about what we don't like about The game, but yeah, the variety was there the the amount of maps There's a crapload of maps crapload of weapons and the game modes like you had like zombie vip you had capture the flag you had laser tag you had Like one shot hit one headshot kills like the swat team. It was like I don't god there had to have been about 35 40 different game modes that you could play it was insane like Um ranked was a bit of a different story You kind of had one game mode if you're going 3v3 and then you had a couple different game modes if you're um playing 4v4, but Yeah, just the huge variety with the game Melee weapons and the weapons I think were fairly balanced in how they would be used like the rocket launchers, of course Stupid powerful, but you only get two shots with it And you run out of ammo with it real real quick Like I think you only have a total of four shots that you can fire off before you're out of ammo for the rocket launcher Same thing with the railgun the railgun is just an instant one shot kill if you no matter where you hit somebody But it takes a while for it to spin up and you only got four shots You got the baseball bat, which is the melee weapon That's just another instant kill, but you book you can only swing it Are you gonna hit people four times before it runs out of energy and you can't use it anymore So I think they have a good balance of like about you know, how much ammo everything uses and like how much time It takes to use and all that sort of stuff Um None of the weapons really I I think felt useless I think they all kind of had their place in some way or another. I think the the laser Weapon that like shot little pulse lasers I think was probably the weakest in my opinion, but still that one's still if you if If you could hit somebody with that thing that were dead pretty quick um Yeah, just all around pretty well balanced game pretty fun game lots of stuff to do in it um, but yeah, I think but that's about I think that's about all the good things I got to say about it Jill you got anything else I mean, I think you hit the nail on the head with the game modes man goose and that like it feels like there's 10 types of game mode and 10 Versions of different things and then they mix and match and they're procedural So you get you get swat fiesta VIP zombies and you're like, okay, sure Let's play right like it and it's Different maps on top of that and all of those things and I think for like ranks I love that they kind of created a style of map for ranks like the three three ranks specifically, right and they have Probably 10 or 12 maps are ranked as well That go through and you go in with decided weapons every single time There's usually an smg and a battle rifle and maybe an auto rifle depending on the map On the map and then but that's it.  Um, there is a separate queue for the 4v4 So it's not uh, or i'm sorry separate ranking So you have your own ranking for the 4v4 that's separate from the 3v3 I would say that 3v3 feels like more of a what a traditional competitive mode. Um, and I love the Speaking of right, I love the mode in itself to the way that you win the game is uh, So you have to kill the other enemy team Sure and after every kill the spawn timer starts to get up and so the first team to kill all three players Wins and so you have at first spawns like one second Then it goes up to like three seconds and then five seconds and it starts to get Pretty big pretty quickly and you end up with some really crazy shot calls some really crazy outplays and um, You know, I think it leaves a lot to There being a strategic competitive aspect, you know There's something to be said like if you've got three players who are really really good at just winning their 1v1s Then you split apart and really dominate the map as a whole You know, there's also sticking together and making sure that you win the fights and you know Just get spawn timers as high as possible and win that way. I mean, there's just so many different variations Um, and then again with the the skill set of being able to Teleport I mean we went against a team that just really understood not only how to fight Coordinate and teleport all over the place and we were just like, dude, how do we it just felt oppressive like we were just like It was it was almost frustrating but also impressive because they were just So good at being able to utilize everything. Um I also like that there's a voting system for which map you pick and that goes across all of the modes So you can pick different maps So if you start to really not like one map you can you know try and vote and go for a different map And that's in ranked and in regular game modes. So That's the other thing the maps are Really really well designed in my opinion There's like only a few that I just really didn't like but that's also probably just me There might be other people who are just like, dude, I fucking love that map and and and I just hate it Um, but there's like, I mean they play with height like crazy So you'll have like, you know basements type stuff You'll have stuff what looks like it's up in the sky and and everything in between You'll have lots of different levels And then you have like really simple one like the stadium where it's just basically You know mirrored sides and it's really small and very fast-paced and crazy and And all the game modes for the most part will play in every single one And and I just I think that's really really cool. I think that part of it was Fun to explore and kind of figure out which oh, we haven't done this game mode yet What's this like and then we'll see oh, I didn't like that that sucked Or maybe it sucked on that map and then you play it on a different map And it's not so bad. You actually kind of like it or whatever and so Um, yeah, I really I really liked the whole design of their maps and the different game styles And like I said, it feels like playing halo with portals or unreal with portals or something with portals. It just Yeah, and there there's a map creator too. I didn't really dig around with them Yeah, make your own maps and play on them if you want to And they have like a contest mode or Yeah, so they have contests I think that they run regularly with the the custom maps So if you come up with a custom map Actually, I think they might be running one right now I think I saw it on their twitter or or just ended But if you come up with a really good custom map, they'll Look to add it into the game and and I just thought that was so some of these maps Maybe were player maps at one point I don't know I would have to do a little bit more research on it But I wouldn't be surprised if there's some really creative people out there in the community Not only making custom games for yourself and your friends or your community if you're like a streamer or something like that But you know if split gate sees it and they're like, hey, that's actually a really cool design Let's implement that into the full game. I think that's a real possibility But yes, there is racing you can have you know speed racing and all that stuff It's actually pretty fun. I don't know if you guys got a chance to do it, but I really enjoyed it I thought it was kind of cool Challenges your portal skills The game itself too is just very complete they they're calling it season two of their open beta And this game is complete. This is a full Yeah, full game I don't think there's any reason to be calling this a beta right now, but Yeah, that's a positive Yeah, that's kind of a positive and a negative like it's one of those things in the industry where they call something a beta Long after it's just a fully complete realized game.  So I think that's good If you if you're coming go to go into it seeing that it's a beta and expecting There to be a lot of shortcomings. No, this one's got This one is what it is Yeah, only a few bugs I would say nothing too crazy And I think one of the other good things I've just thought about is the new player onboarding They limit you to like a handful of the easier game modes to start Yeah, and then as you level up and as you play more games than that the list of game modes expands and expands again Um up to I think it's for that it's 12 different like Sets of game modes that they give you access to once you hit level 15 I think that's a great way to do it. It's not you getting tossed into one of the more complicated like king of the hill direct hardcore pvp Game modes, right? You can get into some of the more lightweight easier game modes early on get your grabs grips with the game and then Move on to the more crazy ones and you can deselect any of the ones you really don't like Oh, that's such a good point on bvip. You can deselect that one out of the playlist You will only play the other ones don't deselect that one. It's so fun I agree that But so I think that's a really cool idea as well to Really allow players to select what the game modes they want to play What has been your guys's favorite of the modes before we wrap up and go into the negatives like what if you had to pick one I think zombie vip was one. I didn't expect to be as cool It's kind of like protect the president style, but like a little bit of a twist on it Um, and but I just I don't know the first time we played it. I was laughing So hard it was I think it was just me and mangoes when we first started it and I was just giggling like crazy It was just Because I think you start off like you have everybody on the team is going super fast with a bat And then the vip zombie or whatever has a shotgun And I got vip and I was using the shotgun and I was just tapping kids They were running at you like they're coming in back I was just laying them out.  So I think I think that in the ranked mode in general has been my favorite I've really really enjoyed the 3v3 ranked. It's super super fun Uh, oh, we didn't mention raven raven played this game with us and one of the kid is a god Like he just is so good at raven's really good at any kind of shooting game I get the feeling that's true But yeah, he was playing really well and he was talking about like he's like I feel like this game was made for me because it's just fast twitchy Like, you know, again a super outplay potential But uh, yeah, so raven also got to join in on us. He had a he seemed like he was having a good time But what did what did you guys think? What was your favorite game mode if you have one? Uh, Joe you good Uh Zombie via piece definitely up there for sure. I think shoddy snipers another one. Oh, yeah I think that's quite a community favorite right there. Yeah shoddy snipers. Yeah I mean you see every time it's up in the rotation of like votes It always gets all the votes right everybody's like, yeah shoddy sniper. Yeah, that's exactly what you think it is It's just shotguns and snipers. That's all you get But I I think I would probably say that the ranked 3v3 is my favorite game mode actually like I think that's It's a really well designed ranked gameplay mode I think that's fantastic for it What about you man goose? I actually really liked on the swat team mode where it was just All headshots were one kill were one hit kills and you had battle rifles I just that was that was a lot of fun for me even though.  So Yeah, I agree with that and I like that with that mode too. You can still do other stuff It's not just team deathmatch. Like you'll have ones where you're playing domination or you're playing. Um, yeah, you know Yeah, you'll you'll have a few different types of and and yeah, absolutely Uh, I I don't know. I just think that they took it seems like They're guys who played all three games that we mentioned and said let's just push them all together But they didn't do so in like a shitty way like they just seemed like they actually they played these types of games They know what was good and bad about all of them because they all feel Like we talked about with the guns.   Well, that sucks to play again So how am I supposed to win that? Um, so yeah, no, I think that they really nailed Overall like the things I mean, I know we're about to go into the negatives and there are definitely some things They need to work on but overall I think it's a really solid game free to play Technically in beta. I'm not sure what it is that they still feel like they need to work on but obviously they're Doing so um, but yeah Any final thoughts before we jump into the negatives No, I think I'm good I think uh, I think the biggest negative we experienced was the um, matchmaking Where we would be in a group and suddenly we weren't in a group That's a pretty major bug there and stuff like we wouldn't we wouldn't be able to see jelly online or we wouldn't be able to see viking online There's a lot of stuff that they're Back into matchmaking That is kind of borked um and a lot of times you wouldn't even know like we you go into like a little arena before The game starts and you just kind of fighting around dicking around free for all and Like we would get in the games and then suddenly realize that jelly's in his own game and viking and I are in a completely different game It's like what's the fucking point of queuing as a team if you're not going to actually be in a team so I think that's probably their Biggest issue that they need to address for this game because they they know that it's happening and like It's an acknowledged bug. That's it's something they need to fix I had to jump in real quick because now that i'm thinking about it Maybe part of my favorite fun modes is actually the in-between round Because we had one where it was bugged out and we were all just running around I don't know if we were we weren't paying attention for a minute I felt like forever We were just in queue to go into a game and it was a bug we were just in it But we weren't alone There's a whole a bunch of other people but we were running around and this free for all fiesta with all these weapons Just laughing our asses off as we just decimated each other. I don't know. It was a long time I don't know if it was 20 or 30 minutes, but it felt like it was a while before what but it The thing was is we were doing it and having so much fun and then we realized wait, why aren't we in a game? So I just want to throw that in there the in-between rounds thing Actually one for me It keeps me fresh and feeling good in between the rounds So you're not really losing like that lull between so if you're you know a high You know Boredom kind of guy like me where your brain turns off if you're not entertained immediately all the time It really keeps you fresh, but it's also so much fun when you You know headshot your friend who came around a corner and they didn't know you were there And you get to yell at them and tell them that they're bad at the game Which is you know what I did to both these guys like constantly And I'm going to find that clip where I headshot you in free for all mode and uh put it up As you're saying that Fair enough. Anyway, go ahead jelly it to your uh, your negatives. What did you think? I mean, I think the biggest one I'm sure we could go into this forever is I'm not even going to say the fact that they use loot boxes because I think I don't Necessarily think that the way they do it is inherently bad right free of the game You do earn them over time fine But my I think my biggest issue is the rate that you earn them is way too slow Like it's it's not every time your account levels up like overwatch did every time you account leveled up You got a loot box and granted that time gets longer and longer between every single one But the first 40 levels you get a loot box right every single time great Uh, but this is you can do it once a day you complete your dailies. That's it and That just feels awful sometimes. I mean I'm level 24 25 at this point and I've opened maybe three maybe four Because sometimes you don't especially if we're like playing ranked one of the dailies is use a railgun Well, there are no railguns in rank and so Now I've got to go into a different mode to get the loot box or whatever it is Or I just don't complete the daily for that day whatever like it just that that kind of like progression feels really slow And it sucks like viking still using the base guy's skin. Yeah, right like that's I got lucky enough to roll a skin out of the box But he looks like the new boo just rolled rolled off the boat That's why I was glickering at mangoes early.  He has more more time played than either of us But I have two skins and he has none I'm so mad And that's I mean it wouldn't feel so bad if you were at least you're going like, okay I have half a level left till my next loot box so I can try again Right or whatever whatever it might be so like I said not Bashing the loot boxes directly though. I wish they weren't loot boxes but If you're gonna have loot boxes at least make it feel like I'm earning something for my time More consistently than I have Yeah, I mean, obviously I agree with that. Um, I've played more than both of these guys I've I've opened a decent amount of boxes at this point But I also was doing exactly what jelly was saying I was hunting to do the things so, um, there's a free Battle pass and there's missions that go with the free battle pass as well as the premium battle pass as it's also its own mission So, um, you have two sides to the missions as well as just the progression across the battle pass as a whole Um, but so doing the free ones like there's there's different modes You have to do so I did like a couple races that you have to beat and then you get you know progression in that Um, it does feel a little off sometimes It doesn't feel like you're really getting a chance to progress even as a free to play player And I definitely don't have a problem with a game wanting to monetize like I get that like especially this is free to play It's a good game. They should be making money. I want them to to continue making money. Um, and it but it just There needs to be I think something and I I bring this up a lot But I think fortnite really nails it like I feel like they Have a good way of being able to get people who are playing free to play Access to something even if they're not like the cool as crazy as cool skins that like, you know You see all the streamers running around and you're just throwing hundreds of dollars at the at the shop all the time You do have access or get opportunities to earn towards, you know, the free skins and um Just to be able to have some expressionism, you know, and I think that's always important Um outside of that though, I will say this is kind of going to the good the weapon skins themselves I really really do like that. They're progression based so you can actually start to like I just unlocked for the pistols Because we've been playing so many ranked I got enough headshots with pistols or whatever that I unlocked a cool Then cooler than normal skin that's got like glowy stuff coming off of it or whatever and I think that's pretty neat Almost everybody that we see though In game with skins are the stuff that they bought from the store It doesn't seem like any of them are really Ones that you can progress and earn towards that are like really high up there.   So I need to do 7500 damage in a team play Mode or whatever. So It's go every time I play one. It doesn't matter how much damage I do I was tracking it and I get one point added to the 7500 one point So for whatever reason it's not counting that damage that I'm doing in game Towards that so I can't complete my weekly right now and that weekly would give me an orb Which then that orb that gives me a chance to probably not get a skin I'm going to get a weapon skin or something like that. So I'm not look as cool, but I can't even complete it. So it's like I can't even put time towards that Thing at all. So I don't know if it's bugged. I tried looking it up. Nobody else is talking about it So maybe it's just a me bug.  So if I wanted to buy the premium pass, I have to just not it's 10 bucks But they don't have a $10 one. They have a $5 one $100 one or $20 one So what are you gonna do? Are you gonna work your way up to this? No, it's like Uh, so you end up having to spend a technically more money to be able to get it So that but then you end up with these leftover currencies. Can you buy anything in the shop with the leftover currencies? Fuck.  League of Legends has been doing it forever I know it's just like I just think it's it's disingenuous. I think it's predatory.   You can just pay seven fifty. You can just pay eight dollars, right? Steam has that integration built in so It's definitely something they could do But it falls into that because psychologically if you have some left over you're going to want to spend it to try and get that as low As possible so you can Keep get it down to zero or as close to zero and it's just one of those psychological Things that these and it probably works and I hate it It doesn't it doesn't work on me because I even with like League of Legends I've played that game a lot and I've spent a decent amount of money on it I I don't level up to the next thing to be able to buy something else Like I just wait until I have enough of the currency by just playing the game to be able to eventually Unlock whatever it is that I want to unlock but they burnt me out on it I was like I got tired of doing that shit like I'm not gonna put in $15 to buy a $12 skin I'm just tired of it.   Split gate. You're pissing me off No, they probably will actually I can't It's a good game. I want you to load in. He's like I almost bought the battle pass The only actually so this is something that the guys know about me But because we keep playing so many different games I feel like silly buying a battle pass and then not completing it Because we just end up moving on to another game not only just for the show But just because I guess we're all have ADHD or whatever. We can't just stay on one game for very long We have to move on to something else quickly Uh, and so but if I buy this battle pass Then then we're gonna move on to playing something else and then I'm gonna be sitting there with a battle pass It's just rotting away for no reason. That's that's what was going through my head today When I all to afford and you were like, what about your rank?  I think all of us have had and Raven definitely had it If this was out and veiled experts was out at the same time I would be playing veiled experts like This is a fun game. Don't get me wrong But I get bored with it pretty easy like I I couldn't play this all night Yeah, I mean it's kind of it's not even it's it's somewhat boredom and somewhat just Stimulation overload like I can't just play something this It's not strategic at all. This is all tactical and I just can't keep my brain in that mode for that long In a healthy way And I think so I mean a big part of it like if you think back to halo multiplayer specifically The thing that kept kept halo multiplayer alive Was the new halo right it wasn't the game It wasn't the multiplayer itself in the majority of cases for the majority of players It was oh, I'm playing halo 2's multiplayer and now halo 3 is out I'm going to go play halo 3's multiplayer where I really enjoyed halo 2's multiplayer But now halo 3 is out right and that the new game is what revitalizes those multipliers I mean halo infinite is the prime example halo infinite was big when it first launched Now it's got next to no players in terms of its multiplayer and that's a free to play multiplayer No less not even behind the halo purchase uh And I think that's where This game is going to struggle is how it does it Create staying power. How does it do something new? For a on a consistent enough basis to keep players coming back Right in games like league of legends new characters of the thing Right a new character comes out that fits the lane or the role that I play Okay, maybe I'll go back to the game even if it's been five years Right, what does splitgate have right? It's got cosmetics And that's the hard part the gimmick is the portals the game modes are already really good Right, it's not even that the game modes are bad, right? But that that's what that's not something that's going to keep people around What do they do that keeps reinventing that wheel time and time again? To bring players back or keep players around but either way I so the staying power I think is going to come from To me exactly what we're talking about I think so I don't play halo because I just don't really I think halo's gotten to a point where it's kind of just Boring for me. I don't really enjoy it. It's it's not I don't know it was fun at first just because of the nostalgia of playing halo But after a little bit of playing it. I was just like I'm back. I don't There's other I think shooters that are more fun to play Um, I agree if this in veiled experts were out, I would probably be playing veiled experts a lot more That's not to say though once we got done with playing some veiled experts If we were just like because veiled experts burns you out too It's a it's a game that can be very frustrating to play and can be One that just like I just don't feel like dealing with that right now or whatever because you know meta's change things move around so I can see Splitgate having a player base But it's going to be a player base that is that is coming to it because it's it's not their main game But it's a fun game to play with friends that fits that niche because I can easily see all three of us when we're playing Almost any other game and be like hey You guys want to jump in a splitgate and just like fuck around for a bit and I'd be like, yeah It's a fun game. Why not? It's free to play So it's easy to download You know if you don't have it downloaded and I think the only way that they're going to keep it going Monetarily is if they fix their store and fix their because while the battle pass I think is a good idea and it's going to keep people that are interested in playing the game every day Getting rewards for that investment in time You're casual players or players like us who are going to bounce around from different games The the battle passes just doesn't have any value but if you have skins or other things that are Going to speak To those players and have like, you know, they come back like, oh There's a new cool skin in the shop. I'll spend five ten bucks on it. I like this game anyway I haven't played it in a little while or whatever and you'll do it because that's I think the same thing with with league is like you'll Take a break for a while. It's free to play you download you come back and you know new champion or whatever You buy the champion. Oh, they got like skins for two and those really cool skins. All right. I'll spend 10 bucks I haven't spent 10 bucks on league in a while. Boom. So they just made 10 bucks, right? So I think that there's a place for it at the the first person shooter genre is so Massive at this point, but I mean people are still playing apex people are still playing pub g people are sort of playing halo Yeah People are playing call of duty still and I agree with Or I'm sorry with jelly's point about like, you know, the next thing was the thing kind of moving You know call of duty falls into that exact same category like modern warfare Okay, now modern warfare 2 black ops like ops 2 black ops 3 now. It's you know, it just The reason why the the audience keeps moving forward with the new iterations. This game doesn't have iterations it's literally probably going to just be what it is and You almost wonder if they shot themselves in the foot by having so much already available Because like if they were to say like, oh, hey, we just added three new maps and two new game modes Maybe people would be returning or whatever. But um, yeah, I just don't know So I think it's like I'm 50 50 on the staying power to be honest I do think that it could be one of those games It's like in the back of people's steam list or whatever on your library that like We really enjoy playing that game. There's nothing stopping us from just jumping in and playing it for a little bit But I feel like I have games like that and I still don't do it. I don't know. It's tough. I'm like I said, I'm like 50 50 Okay, it's not staying power because the game is bad No, the game didn't do anything wrong It's just not doing enough right and and that's not even necessarily them doing anything wrong still It's just it's I also think that maybe just as gamers We're not really in the same space like to keep throwing umpteen amount of hours into Into games like unless it's a single player game Where it's start and end. I just don't see myself putting in hundreds of hours into games anymore um Here's my thing.  Um, I think the main reason for that is because as fun as it is And as as cool as the portals are the portals are A gimmick not depth Um veiled experts had depth through a lot of the gunplay learning how to control the guns You know investing money, um The characters again, I think the rising has a lot of depth. Yeah The they they don't have something they can add consistently to bring players back Right characters being a big thing there, right? New maps are cool But I will never look at the game and be like oh they put a new map out I should go play that Because that's not that's not enough Right because veiled experts I could go two years without playing veiled experts and they are they're like Oh, yeah, we just released a new guy can turn invisible. I'll be like, I'm in where let's boot it up go into veiled experts, right? Yeah, let's give it a shot. Sure. Okay, it doesn't have that thing That I feel at least that I'm aware of that I can think of off the top of my head And maybe they have plans for that going forward. They don't have the new character They don't have the big thing that would actually draw me back in I think that's the hardest part for them and that's why you see that so many games nowadays Do have those things. Yeah, right even Call of duty tried to go that route with the specialists They tried to create unique characters that they could then add more of to draw people back in Apex has a league does it all of those things Overwatch Yeah, I think it's just an arcade game to be honest I mean it's arcade game with the mix of having competitive Which in the competitive feels good to be honest like again If you're a competitive shooter type guy and this stuff speaks to you I think there's absolutely a scene For this game. I don't know if us three maybe and that could be part of it We're just all a little bit biased and have like the same kind of mindset as we approach games I do think that there's going to be people who will stick with this game Every single day put it hundreds of hours into it and do all that stuff, you know, I just I'm not one of them. I mean I'll maybe put hundreds of hours over the course of time because it's just free to play And it's going to sit in my steam library. So as long as servers are open and there's a player base I'll jump in and play probably but I definitely Yeah, if it was between this and veiled experts, I'd be playing veiled experts But veiled experts just spoke to me better as far as the type of shooter that I currently want to play But this game is a lot of fun. I mean, I could definitely see us like a couple years from now like Hey, you guys want to play a couple games of splitgate and look. Yeah, sure So it's fun.  I think it's better than halo I'll give it that to be honest. I think it's better than halo It's better than I don't know. I think it's better than a lot of other, you know, arcades. It's a good game It's better than call of duty in my opinion. I mean, I just so I think if that's the audience, right? It's the guys who like halo the guys who like call of duty Like that style of team deathmatch in different game modes and stuff like that if if that player base finds out about this game They might feel at home here. I mean, they need to I think they'll need to Improve their skins and make them look a little bit cooler and and you know and Freshen up the art a little bit from from that perspective But everything else just gameplay 100 just like on the surface It's it speaks to high level gameplay as well as casual gameplay You can bring in your friend who's never played a first person shooter before And they could come in here and play this game and feel relatively, you know, accepted and do okay Um, but yeah, uh and cheating while we did encounter. I think a few cheaters I wouldn't say it's insane Given it being in a in a beta state still technically in a free to play game I think you're gonna always encounter cheaters and and these types of games, but Um, there's only a few I think so far in some more games. Some of them too. It's always just like Questionable, you're always like wait. Is that guy just really good or is there something else going on, right? And um But yeah, so I would say the cheating is not too bad either I don't know. I again, I'm still like 50 50 on this thing power of it It just really depends on what audience ends up finding this game All right. Um, let's start closing it out then. Um, let's let's go with some closing thoughts about splitgate And i'm so proud of myself for not saying portals just now jelly Uh final thoughts for splitgate. Yeah, I mean, I think again, I think the game is really fun and I don't think Anything that the game is doing now or that that I feel like is wrong or bad Wouldn't be fixed right the game is really really good well designed clearly put Like the the tlc was put into the game Over the course of its development. There's no question about that. You can feel that in everything that that's there um And the quality of assets is really good The like just overall feel is amazing for this game. And so I really hope they do Stick it out and do last with it and do something great with it That I can't think of whatever the thing is that they've got some like Card they're gonna pull it on be like i'm going back to splitgate full time. Let's go like I want them to do that because the game is really good and deserves that kind of Hold in certain parts of the market for fps games. So I think it's really good I think you should give it a try It is frustrating at times, but honestly what game isn't anymore. So it's one of those things Um, but yeah, I think it's that's it for me. What about you viking? Yeah, I mean, I think the parts that are frustrating are parts that are frustrating because you either feel like you could have played better You know or or as a team we could have reacted to something better Like, you know, those are things I was Very rarely frustrated because of like, you know, some broken mechanic or because of something that was, you know Very much outside of my control or very much in the control of another player influencing me, right? So like if I get outplayed with portals, I just got outplayed with portals It is frustrating But I can also go like well that guy's just really good at that and it is what it is Like even on mad and slamming my desk at that moment. I get why it happened and I'm okay with it for the most part Um, but no, I I agree. I think free to play is a big part of it. I do think that they're uh, they're game pass and all that stuff Um looks pretty interesting as far as if you bought the premium It does look like it's got a lot of cool stuff in there. So um, and it's again pretty good value I think it's like either nine or ten dollars. I can't remember exactly but not too shabby You can technically earn enough currency to buy the pass through the free pass But you will go through the whole pass before you can do that And it's not exactly a fast progression through the past Like I've been playing I forget how many hours I've got at this point But a decent amount and I think I'm only like level 10 on the past So it's not very much at all and it's a hundred levels. So it's a it's a big big big big pass. Um Yeah, man, I think if you like halo, you like call of duty you like Portals This game is going to fit what you like and it's our arcade feeling it does it has arcade modes Even actually the racing. I know you guys didn't get a chance the racing was really cool And actually I think it helped me get better at my portals because you have to use your portals to be able to get to Because you have like balls that you have to chase around basically and um, oh great points. Yeah, I'm great at that Uh But yeah, no, I just I think that they like jelly said they they really Came up with like a wide variety of things that almost any person who it fits this kind of genre would Find a place to have fun and explore and put time into And I do think that they can fix the stuff like that is buggy and weird It's cross to cross play also. I forgot to mention that so you know, I think it's on xbox I believe so you can play with your xbox friends as well. So there's that um Yeah, I I'm trying to think of like on a 10 system I'd say it's like a like a seven seven and a half out of 10 as far as overall especially for free to play And in beta Yeah Yeah, um, I think it's a great game. Um really enjoyed it a really fun game. Um, it will stay in my steam library like let's go to show um white in my steam library not grayed out like So many other games that I've uninstalled over the years, but um Same it's definitely it's not gonna be in my recent steam games when I open up steam That's not gonna be one of the first options that comes up here in about probably about two three months It's probably gonna be long gone from my mind. It'll just be a game that I kind of revisit every once in a while So split gate great game try it out for yourself Maybe it'll speak to you more than did to me Because it is a very cool concept and I wish them the best because I think this was a genius on uh 10 47s part, but um Yeah, that's uh That's about it So, uh, that was going to wrap it up for this week guys If you have a beta game that you want us to play let us know in the comments Uh, if you agree disagreed or just want to talk about anything we discussed during this show today Uh, again, put it down in the comments and we'll talk about it, but uh I'll have um Mikey Jedi you can find him here jelly knees. I'll have uh his twitch in youtube Oh, I've been putting your twitter in the comments. There you go. I'm pretty I'm decently active on there at least So yeah, follow me on twitter. I usually upload uh or put like, you know That we're going to be going live with the premiere stuff like that sometimes throw out some memes Sometimes yeah weird. I don't know, but yeah, follow me on twitter. That's fine. Join the discords We have all three of us have discord So if you're a discord kind of fan, you know join in be part of the discussion Uh, we'd like hearing from you guys like I mean we're doing this for fun And you know, obviously we want you guys to have fun with it So the more you let us know what we're doing well what you would like us to improve upon not just our audio levels Like, you know, maybe so, you know, but that needed improvement from But no, honestly, I mean we're we're doing this to to to obviously entertain and to have fun and play different games And get people introduced to it. So uh, if you guys have suggestions, please Please comment do give it thumbs up. It does give us a chance to reach more people through the algorithm I know I say it almost every time. Um, but it's not like a money gaming thing here We're not really necessarily trying to get rich doing this on youtube But we do want to hopefully encourage more people to uh to engage with us and See the videos and see if there's any other opinions and feelings and stuff like that So if you're in the premiere right now Please wait till after the premiere is over and also go in and comment below and give it a thumbs up Uh, because it does help that I don't know what he's saying. I'm here to get rich.  Yep 100 percent. Yeah, we're gonna make a portal moba We're gonna make a moba that includes portals that We're just gonna rip off split gate With paradise has that override has it you can portal between planes. Oh, yeah, that's right They beat you to it. They did Anyway, this is the uh, this is gonna be the beta male setting off you guys have a good one man goose Special shout out to channel members. I blood hunter jelly knees meow mix for men's stunt raven and blastoise king


Panic attacks can be very tricky to not only recognize and treat, but also to fix long-term. And I thought I would share a very interesting case of a woman experiencing panic attacks and some useful Chinese medicine lessons that I think can help for the healing process if you are one of those people experiencing. Hey, I'm Dr. Alex Hine, licensed acupuncturist and doctor of Chinese medicine. So before we jump into this video, two very important links right below the video there below. The first is if you'd like to become a patient of mine locally in Los Angeles or virtually via telemedicine, you can contact my private practice with the contact info below the video there. And the second is that there's a free download there for you for daily rituals that could potentially help you add years to your life with Chinese medicine. So those are both right below this video. So I was speaking with this woman that was telling me about the onset of her panic attacks. And she said that, you know, she'd been feeling a little bit anxious lately, but then someone had recommended that maybe going into a flotation tank would help her calm down a little bit and zen out and feel more relaxed and help her nervous system cool down. So she bought a pass to go to one of these flotation tanks where if you've never done this, you're completely sealed. It's completely dark, pitch dark, pitch black, and you're laying naked floating in this high salt content bath. And it is so quiet. You can hear your eyes clicking when you blink. So really all you have is you with your thoughts and you with your sensations in your body, you know, sensory deprivation has been used for thousands of years for mystics and bards and shamans to try to get visions, which is why there's one of these associations with hermits and sages going to caves, right? No lights, no sound, no stimulation, all you can do is go within. So this practice I think is very useful, I think could help a lot of modern people with anxiety and all this nervous system stuff we have. But for this poor woman, unfortunately, what happened was this claustrophobic experience for her produced her first panic attack and she freaked out. Her heart was racing. She was sweating. She felt like she was going to faint or throw up and she had to get out of this isolation tank and just lay down on the floor for 20 minutes until she felt calm again. And then she went home and was too scared to ever do it again. When she came to see me, she was saying that, you know, this shocked her and the way she described this experience, this was when I was an intern in school. She said that this isolation tank, this sensory deprivation tank triggered her panic attack. And we had a long conversation about how she could stop these panic attacks going forward because now she couldn't sleep because she was so anxious about when the next one would be. And her story brings up a very profound lesson that I think is really helpful for people with anxiety and specifically panic attacks. So the first thing is that people often attribute certain events to the triggering of their panic attacks or anxiety. But in my experience, the event was the trigger, but the event did not cause the panic attacks. Usually what I see clinically is that there's been this physiological disruption building for months and that that event is purely the straw that broke the camel's back. And so this woman saying this panic attack was triggered from the isolation tank was actually, she'd been running herself down for months or years and had some low grade symptoms of anxiety. But that was just the inflection point where now her physiology reached the impasse, it could no longer regulate itself. And now she had effectively reached the point of no return. So what looked like this isolation tank produced this panic was really just that it had tipped her over the edge. And now she had a hard time getting back to that equilibrium again. So panic attacks can be tricky because most often, unless they happen in the middle of the night, they are a reaction to a change in sensation in your body. So a person who has a panic attack and then becomes hypersensitive to further panic attacks because they recognize they know that feeling, the feeling is scary. It's weird. Maybe they feel sweaty. Maybe they feel cold hands and feet.  And maybe they know what's coming next, the faintness, the breathing, the headache. They know it's about to come. And then that tips them over the edge again. And so a lot of the training I do with patients that have panic attacks is just helping them recognize that they have to learn to recognize those sensations. And a lot in the same way that someone with migraines will learn to take migraine medication right when they notice one coming on and it will stave off the migraine. The person with panic attacks, if they can recognize, uh-oh, the sensation's coming. It's changing. And if I can just do my system, my ritual, whatever it is at that time, I can stave off the panic attack. So in Chinese medicine, this idea of panic attacks, we often call upward surging. And upward surging can be a lot of things. There are a lot of people who have upward surging resulting in anxiety, insomnia, panic attacks being just one of them. Upward surging can be headaches, can be a lot of different things. But I find that what's helpful for the person with panic attacks to heal is to number one, recognize that a panic attack is a reaction to a sensation in your body that is foreign or sometimes familiar in not a good way. And recognizing that it doesn't mean you're going to guarantee to have a panic attack. You may feel panicky all of a sudden. You may notice that it's about to come. And so you know, when that happens, I need to get up and I need to go for a walk around the block for 20 minutes and then my physiology will have calmed itself down enough to go back to normal. And two, to recognize that what maybe initially triggered the panic attack is probably just the straw that broke the camel's back. And it isn't that social scenarios cause your panic attacks or that new dates cause your panic attacks or that playing with dogs cause panic attacks. But it's just understanding that right now that thing is a trigger for your susceptible physiology. And the third thing, that when your physiology goes back to a state where it is calmer, that those triggers will no longer exist. For me, primarily I use formulas for treating that physiological state. I view panic attacks and anxiety as absolutely physiological. I treated the way a conventional doctor would, but with Chinese herbs very, very effective in my experience. And we get the physiology to a state where the person is not experiencing what we call that upward surging as much where the nervous system is not going from zero to 100 because it saw a big scary dog out front. And that's like my panic trigger. And when we get the physiology to a point where it's going like this every day to a point where the highs are lower and the lows are higher. We give the person to this point, those flares are not quite as severe. But I find that the singular most important thing is physical exercise. So I'm gonna leave you with that. If you're experiencing a panic attack acutely, the most important physical thing is to do something with your body. Walk, run. If you're feeling a little bit anxious today and you know you might have one, make sure you do an hour workout. Clear your whole schedule for that and that will help even out your nervous system and your physiology a little bit more. But big thing is recognizing that the trigger is not what calls your panic attack. The trigger is just when your physiology is susceptible, it is in a hypersensitive state, the state of sympathetic dominance, it is more predisposed, it is more prone towards more of these triggers. And as that state equalizes, those triggers will not be able to trigger that quite as much. But Chinese medicine, I mostly use formulas for this and they're very, very effective. All right guys, that's all I have for today. So don't forget two links below this video. The first is if you'd like to become a patient of mine locally in Los Angeles or virtually via telemedicine, you can contact my private practice right below this video. And there's also a free download for you right below this video. And otherwise, I have two other videos on this topic of anxiety and panic over here.


week we've got reincarnation on trial but yeah I am excited you guys I appreciate all of you guys and so really fun stuff always juicy I just want to play some of my very favorite clips for you we are excited you guys want to say I love you guys thanks so much I've got to go I'm pretty pooped out and I've actually got to get a lot of work done tomorrow prepping for my comprehensive exam so November 19th is when I have this huge exam which is the exam that is like the you could say it's like the expert exam to see if I move on to the last phase of the my dissertation in particular the last phase of the doctorate so it's going to be amazing it's going to be big it's going to be gigantic and so I have to prep for it hard and this has been such a long week that I'm a little behind on prepping so I really have to hammer it hammer it out because it's something that I just have to take seriously and that's why I will not be able to do any I won't be able to host any debates during the week until after this exam so Friday Saturday night I'll almost always be here but if it's going to be on Tuesday or Wednesday night we sometimes have them I am fortunately I wish I could but I'm not able to moderate those I do love being here I honestly enjoy it so infinity love thanks for coming by glad you were here and so I want to say thanks everybody you guys are a blast love you guys thanks for all your support we have a vision folks to provide a neutral platform so that everybody can make their case on a level playing field and no matter how many boundaries how many hurdles are in front of us we are just going to keep moving forward with this vision and we are excited that you are a part of it folks so thanks everybody for being with us we look forward to seeing you on the next one which is tomorrow night so you don't want to miss it hit that subscribe button if you haven't already is going to be amazing love you guys take care and see you next time


Yes, let's begin once again. So before the break we were seeing that Jesus took the decision that he did out of love. He knew that there are two grieving sisters waiting for him over there and yet he choose to stay two more days and then go. We see earlier in John chapter 4 an event where you have a noble man coming for his son. He says, my son is dying. Please come quickly and Jesus just speaks a word and says, you know, your son is going to be well. So it takes about one day for that man to return back home and then his servants tell him that your boy is now well. He asks, he inquires at what time did my child get well and he gets to know that around the same time that Jesus spoke, in fact the wording over there says the hour when Jesus had spoken that was the hour when his son had got healed. So it would have been so easy for Jesus to just speak a word to the messengers and say Lazarus is going to be fine. And that's it, you know, and that in that very moment, in that very instant Lazarus would have become well.  Knowing that they are grieving, he delays by two days. Jesus does not always deal with our pain and grief in the way we would like him to. But it is very important to remember that this is a good shepherd.  He glorifies his name by showing compassion and mercy and kindness. That's the description that he gives about his name, you know, in the Old Testament. When Yahweh is describing himself, he says, this is who I am. This is what my name represents. And he speaks about kindness and mercy and compassion and justice. And so out of that justice comes the judgment where he judges those who are wicked. But it is all about compassion and doing that which is right and supporting that which is right. And so it's about helping those who have been wronged, you know. So it's all about goodness. That is who the Lord is. And so when we are going through very hard and difficult times and we feel as though we have been left alone in our grief, it is good to remember verse 5 where it says, now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. You know, so specifically each of them is named individually, each of them individually mattered to Jesus. And yet he chooses to handle the situation in this particular way so that his name may be glorified. And his name is the name which, you know, represents compassion and mercy and kindness. So it is important that we remember these facts when we are going through our own times of trial. So now in his scheduled time, Jesus says, let's go, you know, and wake up Lazarus is how he puts it. And so the disciples say, no Lord, let him sleep because if he sleeps then he will get well. They didn't really have the modern medicines that we do for them. I think most of the time all they could do is just allow the person to rest and hope that the person recovers. So they say, you know, let him rest Lord. And then Jesus very plainly says in verse 14, no Lazarus is dead. And in verse 15 he says, I am glad for your sakes that I was not there that you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go to him. So he says, I am glad for your sakes that I was not there on any occasion when you're when you've been going through a trial and you feel as though the Lord was not there for you. Remember that it is for your sake that he has permitted a certain event because he is the good shepherd. He is the gate, you know, for the sheep. No wolf can ever come near you. The principality of power can attack you as long as you are safe within his enclosure. You know, so it is very, very helpful for us to remember who our Lord is. He is the shepherd who is the gate. He literally is lying there as a shield between us and the evil one. So whatever he permits it, he permits it for our sakes so that we can grow into his image. So that we can have the reward which he has already prepared for us so that we can have the future that we are meant to. You know, these are assuring things that we can remind ourselves of when we read this passage. So he says, nevertheless, let us go to him. And we have this beautiful words of Thomas. No, he says, let us also go that we may die with him because, you know, Thomas is very sure that the 12 hours of daylight are. You know, Jesus says the 12 hours of daylight are still there. Don't worry. We won't stumble. But you know, Thomas is not not not sure about that. He's pretty convinced that they'll all probably get killed. But look at his loyalty. He says it's all right. If Jesus is going, we'll also go with him. If we have to die, so be it. You know, and so they all come back over here to this place. And so in verse 17, we are told that it's already now been four days that the body has been kept in the tomb. So now, OK, if we can have someone read out from verse 18 up to verse 20. Yes, John chapter 11 versus 18 up to 20, please. Verse 18. Now, Bethany was near Jerusalem about two miles away. And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. Now, Martha was now Martha as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming went and met him. But Mary was sitting in the house. Yeah, we get the impression that these are well known people. A well known family because, you know, Jews have come all the way from Jerusalem to be with them in their time of grief.  So I think they're probably a well off family. So you have a lot of Jews who have traveled those two miles from Jerusalem to come and be here with these people. So there's a large audience. I mean, there are many people gathered over there who are going to be witnessing what's going to happen next. Verse 20, it says, then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him. But Mary was sitting in the house.  Only Martha hears about it and she immediately goes out to meet him. Generally, when there is a depth in the family and, you know, the morning is going on, the family stays indoors, you know, stays there in the house.  But here we see Martha, you know, her respect for him is so great. She goes out, even though she's the one mourning, you know, she goes out to meet him. And this is the conversation that takes place. So if we can read out all the way from verse 21 up to verse 27. 21 to 27, please. Verse 21. Now, Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live.  Do you believe this? I said to him, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world. Yeah. So here we see Martha saying, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. So she is very disappointed that, you know, her brother could not be healed. But this has not shaken her faith in the Lord because she says, but I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask. It almost sounds like as if she's going to be asking him for, you know, the resurrection of her brother. But that is not really her thought because she's only thinking about his resurrection in the last day on the judgment day. She is not thinking about his immediate resurrection now because later, you know, she says by now the body will be stinking so we should not be opening the tomb. So she is not expecting an immediate resurrection at this particular time. So what does she mean by the sentence then? But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask. So she is saying, even though things did not go for us the way we had hoped, I still believe that you are God. I still believe that whatever you ask the Father, it is given to you. So in a sense, she's just declaring and saying that I still believe, Lord, in your divinity. I believe that you have come from the Father and that whatever you ask from the Father, it is always given to you. Jesus on the other hand says your brother will rise again. And she says, yes, Lord, I mean, I know that because I know that you are from God. So therefore on the resurrection, on the day of the judgment, you will resurrect him. So she does have this assurance.   And so he says, do you believe this? She does not catch what he is saying.  So she has understood his Messiah ship most clearly. She believes that he is from God and whatever he asks of God, it will be granted to him. She has understood all of that, but she has not grasped all that he can be for her and for her family. So this can happen to us. We know the Lord, we love the Lord, we have been learning from the Lord and growing in him. But have we caught all that he is? We may know it intellectually, but I mean, has it become so real to us that now we are walking in that and we can act it out. We can practice it. So, you know, even as I'm saying these words, I'm also very much in the learning process. There are things which I still know intellectually. There are things which have not yet become so much a part of me that I can just open my mouth and claim it and it will be so. So that is something that we are all growing into. That is why it is so important to know when Jesus says, abide in me. And then I will abide in you and then it says you will bear much fruit. So this fruitfulness comes from the level of abiding that we do. So our aspiration should be to always become more and more connected to the wine, to stay in him, to know him deeper and deeper. Because then we start bearing much fruit. Even to the extent of being able to raise the dead. All that comes out of that abiding. Literally the sap of the wine, the sap, that life giving sap which is there in the wine, it flows into the branches. So this is something. This is the level that Martha had not yet reached. And so we all need to aspire to grow more and more into the Lord. The things which are told about him in the scriptures no longer remain as information in our minds, but become such a part of us that it literally flows out of our lives. So moving on to verse 33. It says, therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled. So we will see shortly later that he groans again for a second time and that's for a different reason. But over here, the first time when he groans, it is because of this. He sees her weeping. He sees her broken heart. He sees the Jews weeping, the ones who had loved Lazarus, known him personally. Maybe even from childhood they had known him. They are all weeping. When he sees the pain of all of that, it says he groans in the spirit and he is troubled. The two words that are used over there, the Greek words that are used over there are very strong words. The first word, the word which is used for groaned, that is a complicated word in Greek. Not even sure how to pronounce it. Embrymaomai or something of the sort. So now basically that word, it almost indicates anger and indignation. So it's not just a word which talks about sadness. This is almost an angry word. That is the word. So it is that kind of a groaning. It's like a groaning of indignation and anger. And the second word, that would be the word troubled. And in Greek, that indicates agitation where something is literally being stirred up. That's the word which was used earlier in John chapter 5 where they had this myth that someone came and would come and some angel would come and stir up the waters where the waters are literally shaken. Where you can visibly see the waters being shaken. That same word which is used in John chapter 5 verse 7, that's the word which is that is being used over here. So he is groaning and the word used over there indicates anger and indignation. The second word is saying that he is troubled and that's the word which talks about deep agitation where you're being stirred up. This is his response when he sees Martha weeping and all the Jews who cared about this family weeping. So is he angry with them for weeping? Is he feeling that they are not placing their faith in God and so is it that kind of an anger? No, because you see two verses later, he too weeps. So it's not the weeping which is causing him to feel so indignant and angry. He is in fact angry at sin and death and the works of the evil one which are causing these people to suffer as they are suffering.   He's agitated that they are being subjected to all of this and so it's such a lovely thought to carry away when we are having our time of pain and grief and we are weeping. What we had hoped for did not happen. Things did not work out exactly the way we wanted. The shepherd permitted certain things to come through the gate. So we've had to go through some period of some season of pain and then when we are weeping this is God's response. He did not approve of what was done to us. Whatever the evil one did to us and our family, he did not approve of it. He permitted it for our sakes to glorify his name in some manner. So they good will come out of it. We can have that assurance and while we are going through that pain, he doesn't just sit back and say the good is going to come out of it in the end. So let them suffer for a while. No, he's involved in it, in that suffering with us. He feels what we are feeling and so he is indignant on our behalf. So this is the attitude of our shepherd when we are going through our times of trial. And then in verse 34, he says, where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord come and see. So he wants to go to the place where Lazarus has been buried. And in another one minute or so, you know, he's actually going to raise him up from the dead. So there's really no need for verse 35 at all. Why is Jesus weeping? I mean, in another one minute, the man is going to be alive. Lazarus is going to be alive. So there really doesn't seem to be any need for tears, but Jesus weeps. And this is what the Jews say in the next verse. They say, then the Jews said, see how he loved him. You know, that indignation, that anger, the deep agitation that he felt in his heart, it caused him to literally weep. Even though he knows what he's going to do next. So you see, he participates in our suffering and our pain.  You know, that's the term that they have, S-T-O-I-C. You know, where the Greek gods, they feel nothing.  That is the, you know, and the ancient Greeks, they considered that strength. So if you really want to know what strength is, you've got to have feel nothing.  And that's supposed to be some kind of supreme existence. And here you have this living God who is the exact opposite of stoic. He literally gets involved in your pain. He literally participates in what you're going through. He's indignant on your behalf. He, and even though he has permitted something, you know, for the glorification of his name, for your sake, he has permitted it. While you're going through it, he's very much in it with you. And in fact, you know, Romans 8, we learn that in fact he's interceding for us when we are going through that whole thing. So he's not on the outside watching. He's inside with us in that trial, in that pain. To an extent, you know, where the physical Jesus weeps. I mean, this is definitely not a stoic God. This is a God who's very much involved in our lives. So beautiful to have this as our living God.  It's such a privilege that we have. And that's why these people who stand in front of the throne of God, you know, in the heavens, they just can't control themselves. They keep praising him, worshipping him, declaring that he is holy.  And that's why they go on praising and worshipping. And it's not a boring exercise because they keep catching a glimpse of who he is. And it's like a fresh revelation to them each time they see who he is. And here, you know, when we are living on the earth, we don't have the direct view, you know, and we are surrounded by all these trials of life. And things are not going the way we thought they would go. And we think that we are alone. For two whole days, Jesus did not turn up, you know, and they were grieving over there. So they were hurting. But this is the heart of Jesus. He cared so much about them that he wept even though he knew that in the next one minute he's going to be raising him from the dead. And that is why truly, truly the Jews say over here, see how he loved him. And it shows the love that he had for the two sisters and for Lazarus. But then you have the other category of people over here. And that we see in verse 37, you know, they are the ones with the hardened hearts. And they say, oh, could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept this man from dying?  So they are being critical in this thing. If he loved him so much, he could have done something about it. But see, he didn't do anything about it.  And he claims to be from God. See, look at the words that they are speaking about him. And this is what Satan says to us about our Lord when we are going through trials.  He could have done something about your situation if he had wanted to. But see, he didn't. And now this time Jesus groans. The same word is being used over here in verse 38. Then Jesus again groaning in himself came to the tomb. So again, it's the same word. It's indicating anger. It's indicating indignation. And here it is anger and indignation at their unbelief in who he is and what he stands for. He's a God who stands for goodness, righteousness, justice, mercy, compassion. He's not a stoic, cold-hearted God. And they are very wrongly judging him. So when these thoughts come to us, these negative thoughts come to us in our time of grief and pain, you know, we need to cancel those right. You know, we need to pluck those thoughts out from the root and declare and say, no, we know the kind of God we worship. He is a good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. So these negative thoughts which, you know, people speak, the thoughts which come in our mind from Satan saying that he could have done something about your situation if he had wanted to. But he chose not to. That is a wrong attitude of unbelief. And it causes the Lord to be indignant and angry. So it is not a right attitude for us to have. Rather, we should continue to look to him in faith, trusting that he will do for our sakes. Like he says to the disciples, I'm glad for your sakes that I was not there to heal him before he died. So God always has his own purposes. And so we need to hold on to who he is. We need to have faith in his character, in his compassion. So we come to verse 39. And then maybe you could have someone read out all the way from verse 39 up to verse 43. Yes, verse 39 up to verse 43. Verse 39, Jesus said, take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, Lord, by this time there is a stench for he has been dead for days. Jesus said to her, did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God. Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. And I know that you always hear me. But because of the people who are standing by, I said this that they may believe that you sent me. Now, when he had said these things, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus come forth. And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes. And his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, lose him and let him go. Yes. So Jesus stands over there in front of the open tomb. And you have the stench coming out of the body which has decayed for four days, especially in that hot Mediterranean region. So standing over there, Jesus says, I thank you, Father, that you have heard me. And then he says, I know that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me. So if you remember earlier, the Jews had said, tell us plainly who you are. And Jesus had said, I am the Father, we are one. So now Martha had caught that concept. Because when she comes to meet with Jesus, she says very openly, whatever you ask of the Father, I know the Father gives it to you. So she had caught it. But those Jews who had blinded themselves to the truth, they were not willing to accept it. So now Jesus is making it very, very plain.  He's not begging and saying, Father, please hear me. No, you see there is no, this is not a prayer. This is a declaration. So here he's not praying to the Father and saying, Father, please hear me. No, he's declaring and saying, I know that you hear me. And the reason I'm saying it out loud is that the people will know that you hear me and that you do what I ask of you. It proves it is evidence that you I am from you. So he's making it extremely plain. They wanted him to be plain, right? He's being highly plain. It can't get plain attendance. So after having said that, having shown the people that he has the Father's full backing, he now cries out with a loud voice and commands Lazarus to come out. And Lazarus obviously has to obey. So even though he's all tied up with all those grave clothes, to the best of his ability, he comes out. So it would not have been very easy to walk out with tied up in that way. But he can't disobey the command of the Lord. I mean, it's the creator God crying out and saying, come out. And so he comes out. So we see this happening here. And look at the responses of the people. So maybe we can read out versus 45 to 48. Yeah. If someone could read out for us versus 45 to 48. Verse 45. Then many of the Jews who had come to maybe and had seen the things Jesus did believed in him. But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, what shall we do for this man works many signs. If we let him alone like this, everyone will believe in him. And the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation. Yeah. So we see two sets of people. There are those who cared about Mary and her family. And when they see this good thing, which Jesus did for them, they believe in him. They see his heart. They see his works. They hear his words and they are true sheep. You know, so they're able to catch the truth in what he is doing and what he is demonstrating. And they believe in him. But then you have the other category of people whose hearts are so hardened. Even though they have seen the same things, they have heard the same things because their hearts are hardened. They are not true sheep. They are not open to what he is revealing to them. So they go back to the Pharisees and they tell what Jesus has done more like a complaint. So they want to kind of go and give that information to the Pharisees so that action can be taken. So then the chief priest and the Pharisees, they call a meeting of the Sanhedrin. Now up to this point, we have seen that on various occasions, you had the Jewish leaders and scribes and Pharisees opposing Jesus, you know, in different places. Different places are named and the people in those places, the religious leaders in those different places have been protesting against Jesus and been opposing him. They've even tried to stone him on different occasions. But now these are the top people. Okay, so now it has finally the opposition has been growing gradually and now it has come to the top level. So here it's not just some ordinary, you know, leaders and Pharisees of some particular region. These are the main leaders. It talks about the chief priests and the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin. Now this is your council, one of the main councils which took care of decision making and all of that. So they gather together and they have a meeting. It's rather strange. I mean, here they are discussing a miracle which is extraordinary in every way. And it doesn't even occur to them to spend about five minutes talking about this and asking themselves, oh, after all this has happened, maybe we should rethink our attitude. That is not even there. I mean, that thought is not even there. Rather they are saying, here is this man performing many signs and what's going to happen as a result of this? Everyone is going to start following him. They concern us that people are going to start following him. They are not happy. They are not rejoicing. They are not willing to reconsider. It shows that they have finished making up their minds a long time ago. And that is a very, very dangerous attitude. No, let us not finish making up our minds about the Lord. Each time we go to the scriptures, you know, let us read it like a seeker, hoping that God will reveal something new, that God will maybe straighten out some perspective which is still slightly twisted, not completely clear. There's so much more that the Lord wants to reveal to us. So let us not be people who have finished making up our minds. So each day when we have a quiet time and we go into the Lord's presence, let us go with a heart that is willing to learn. Let us go like as true sheep who are ready to hear His voice, who are willing to maybe readjust our thinking and our perspective and our opinions. So that would be helpful. Here on the other hand, in this meeting, the people have already finished making up their minds that they want to stay in power. And so nothing else matters. What matters is that they should be able to hold on to their power because that's what they are concerned about.  Continue to perform miracles, continue to help people, continue to heal and deliver. If we go on letting Him do this, everyone will believe in Him. And then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation. Now why should it matter to the Romans whether the people are following Jesus or whether the people are following the Pharisees? As the Romans, as conquerors, all that really matters to them is that they should get their tribute on a monthly basis. The taxes and the tributes and all of that should come to them. And there should be peace in the land. As long as there's peace in the land and their subjects are behaving and staying calm and giving the money which is due to the Romans, it doesn't really matter to the Romans whom they believe in, whom they follow. So why are the Pharisees saying over here, the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation. The Romans will only intervene and they will take away the temple and nation if there are riots, if there is rebellion, if there's a lot of unrest and military action is called for, then they will come in and take away the temple and the nation. But Jesus never preached violence. Jesus followers were in fact peaceful people. They were not rioters. So exactly who's going to be initiating all these riots and rebellion, the Pharisees themselves?  They will have to create a position so that people will go and fight against the followers of Jesus. And then there will be rebellion, then there will be confusion, then there will be need for military action and the Romans will have to step in and take some serious steps. So it's rather very foolish. It's going to be these leaders who are going to be stirring up the rebellion and they are the ones who are going to be causing unrest and why are they going to be taking this drastic step? Because that's the only way they can somehow create enough opposition to shut down Jesus. That's what they want. It shows the level of desperation for power. I mean, these people have become blind to everything else. All they want is to hold on to their temple and nation, not because they care about the temple or the nation, but because they want to hold on to power. It's a very terrible, serious attitude that they have chosen to take up. And so now you have the high priest speaking up. This is the high priest. This is not one of the priests. This is not just one of the lower officials. This is your highest spiritual leader in the land, because the high priestly hood, it comes down from Aaron. So this is the highest post, the spiritual posting person can hold in the Jewish nation. And this man was at the top. He speaks up and this is what he says. So yeah, if we can maybe read out verses 49 to 53, please. 49 up to 53. Verse 49, And one of them, being high priest that year, said to them, you know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people. And not that the whole nation should perish. Now this, he did not say on his own authority that being high priest, that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation. And not for that nation only, but also that he would gather together in one, the children of God who were scattered abroad. Then from that day on, they plotted to put him to death. So in the meeting, the people, the leaders are agitated and they say, oh my, everyone is going to start believing in him. And once that happens, you know, we will have no other choice but to step in. And when we step in, there will be violence. And then the Romans will come and take away our temple and our nation. What are we to do? And this is the solution which the high priest offers. He says it is better that the man dies. Because if he dies, then the whole nation will be safe. There will be peace. And so when he utters those words and he says, it is better for one man to die for the people than that the whole nation perish. He is in fact declaring and saying that this person will die for the people. He will die for the nation. And so out of his mouth, out of his rather sinful mouth, this word of true prophecy comes out. So sometimes God uses unholy instruments to fulfill his holy purposes. So yeah, that is why it emphasizes that in verse 51 and it says, I know John emphasizes over there in the rights he says, Caiaphas did not say this on his own but as high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation.  And not only for the nation but also for all the other scattered children of God. Because Jesus had already declared and said there are other people and they also, I will bring them and they also will be part of my flock. So we can be in positions in ministry and we may have gone far away from God the way Caiaphas had but because we are in that particular position in ministry, God may continue to use us. So just because things are going well in ministry, it is wrong to just assume that everything is right between God and me. No, we should humble ourselves and every day when we go into his presence, we need to examine our hearts and say, Lord if there is any wicked way in me, please show it to me, bring it to life so that I may repent, so that I may change. This is a process that we need to go through on a daily basis. Because in a lot of cases, God allows the person to continue doing well in ministry because that person has so many people under him and so God wants to impart so much to those people. And so God continues to use this corrupt person simply because there is no other leader positioned over there at that particular point of time. And so even though the man himself is corrupt, the gifting which has been given, the ministry gifting that has been given, God continues to use it to cause the people who are there to be blessed.  God continues to use that person in that ministry position but he himself may have gone far away from God. So that could happen to any one of us. So that is why it becomes vital that every day we go back into his presence and we make sure that we are attached to the wine, that we are abiding in him, that we are remaining in him and his words are remaining in us. Are we following his words? Are we practicing them? Are we living in line with what his word upholds? Because only then will we be true ministers. Okay, so we should be careful that just because things are going well in our ministry, we should not just automatically assume that things are right between God and us. It is good for us to examine ourselves in his presence every single day. This is something that all of us must do. You know, however powerful and great our ministries may be. Alright, so now the leaders begin to plot for the top leaders are now plotting for Jesus' death. Okay, so earlier it was just a little bit of a position here and there but now that you have the main leadership itself involved now the hour of Jesus' crucifixion is drawing near. And so if we could have someone read out verses 54 onwards, you know, up to the end of the chapter, we only have a few verses left. Yeah, so if someone could read out verse 54 onwards, please. Verse 54, therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews but went from there into the country near the wilderness to a city called Ephraim and there remained with his disciples and the Passover of the Jews was near and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. Then they sought Jesus and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple. What do you think that he will not come to the feast? Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it that they might season. Okay, so now the leaders have issued orders saying if anyone gets to know exactly where he is, let us know so that we can arrest him. So knowing all of this, Jesus has chosen to withdraw from public and he is now hidden away in some portion in the wilderness. So it says instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness to a village called Ephraim where he stayed with his disciples. So Jesus knows that once he goes to the Passover, the events are going to start rolling one by one and his crucifixion is going to take place. So now he wants to spend some time with his disciples and talk to them, teach them some final things that are very, very important. So from now, the next few chapters, he's going to be imparting important vital teachings to them. So now he's staying in this village and he wants to prepare them for the ministry which they are going to do because now his ministry on earth is coming to a close. In future, his ministry is going to be only a ministry of intercession where he'll continue interceding for all of his sheep in the heavens but his earthly ministry is coming to an end and the full fledged ministry of his disciples is just going to be beginning. So he wants to prepare them for it and so John is going to be devoting the next few chapters to some very, very important things that Jesus spoke to them, imparted to them and so we as his disciples also need to catch these teachings. So the chapters which will be coming later, now onwards, these are all very important chapters where Jesus imparts very vital truths to his disciples to prepare them for the ministry which is ahead. So this is basically how the chapter closes. So if anyone has any questions at all, you could maybe raise a hand, post it in the chat. Otherwise, we can close with the word of prayer. Okay, let's close with the word of prayer. Lord, we just thank you so much that you who are the eternal, infinite, almighty God you chose to be a loving and compassionate God. I mean Lord, you don't need to be anything.  You could have chosen to be just almighty and express your power. You could have chosen to just be all powerful and impose yourself upon us but Lord, you chose to take an attitude of compassion and mercy and kindness towards us. Thank you, O Lord, for your great love, O Lord. Lord, it shows who you are that at your very core, O Lord, you are the God of compassion and love. You are wholly set apart. There is none like you, O Lord. None can compare with you. The level of your set apartedness, your holiness, O Lord, is beyond description. So, O Lord, in you, you carry all of love and what love is meant to be. In you, O Lord, you carry all of wisdom and all that it involves and someone like that, O Lord, that eternal God has chosen to become our personal shepherd. Lord, what a privilege we have, O Lord, that you, instead of staying on your throne, chose to become our shepherd and be our gate and shield us from the evil one and we can go in and out through this gate and find pasture is what it says in John 10. Thank you, O Lord, that you have chosen to be that kind of a God even though you could have been anything, anyone, because you are all in all. Thank you, O Lord, that you have chosen to have this kind of an attitude towards us. In spite of our sinfulness and our imperfections, we thank you, O Lord, for your great mercy and love. And so, O Lord, the least that we can do because of who you are, the least that we can do is offer ourselves as living sacrifices so that a pleasing aroma will rise up to you from our lives, our choices, our daily sacrifices, help us a lot to live lives that honour you and please you, O Lord. Enable us a lot to be sheep who are so responsive to your voice, to your correction, to your encouragement and it causes to hold on to you, O Lord, in faith. Thank you, O Lord, that you will do all these things in our lives. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you so much and we will meet again next week. Thank you, Pastor. Thank you.