Guard Dog

PoE. Yeah, it's awesome!

Just checked Steam. PoE unlocks in 4 hours. My day just got booked solid.

And another thing, is it just me or does it seem like every time Obsidian busts out a new game this place gets a little weird?

We need a frying pan and a jar of mayonnaise for all the spam around here lately.

I just watched Team USA choke... yes f-----g CHOKE on a 2-1 lead over Denmark in the last six minutes to lose 3-2. You wonder why that sport isn't more popular in the US? It's because we suck at it.

Ah, you feel all bait-and-switched. I get that same feeling from PoE so I can commiserate. Sure. They are promising a modern IWD, BG, etc and it LOOKS like they are making DA:O lite in a D&D setting. Whatever. I'm already in for $50 so if it sucks as far as I'm concerned I just bought a really expensive soundtrack. How do you figure PoE was bait & switched. I haven't really been following it. They didn't decide to go MMO did they?

You're having a different discussion than me. You're talking about whether you like those changes or not and whether they seem fun to you. I obviously can't prove you wrong on that. What I'm saying is that those aspects show a very clear divergence from how D&D CRPGs of the past played, so much so that the combat gameplay we see in that video doesn't really evoke games like Baldur's Gate or NWN. That much is quite obvious from that video - unless you think we need to read the manual and play the full game to be able to tell. From what I know of you personally, I think you don't really enjoy hardcore RPG mechanics and would prefer a relatively casual and actiony romp. I don't mean that as an insult - and I don't think you'll take it as one, given your self-professed preferences. I think you may well enjoy SCL. Which is my point. I don't have a bone to grind with SCL not being my cup of tea - that's not a problem. I do think it was disingenious of them to announce themselves as the return of good old D&D CRPGs. Tigranes is right on the money. If I invited all of you for dinner promising steak, prime rib, and an open bar and then when you all get there you find out I'm serving hamburgers and potato chips with one can of cheap beer you'd be a little disappointed. That is not to say burgers and chips are not good, it just wasn't what I promised you. They pitched this project by throwing around the D&D brand and the promise to live up to the IE games and NWN. That attracted a vocal and passionate audience. But the meal they are serving up, even though it's not out of the kitchen yet, is something else entirely. Their own forums have gone from being full of mooning fanboys to shark infested waters.

I sat on the front porch and read a book all day today. It was really great. The book and the day.

I'm definitely one of the ones complaining over there and it remains to be seen if they really are listening and what this will turn out to be. Based on what I've read so far I'm guessing it will be a puree of vanilla mush that might have a passing wave at something resembling D&D but has been dumbed down to appeal to the 15 year old MMO gamer that names his characters after bodily functions and uses words like pwned. Man I hope I'm wrong. But the truth is if we get a robust toolset that is accessible and comprehensive as what we had in NWN I (sorry Josh the NWN II toolset was a mess) I can live with all that.

The CEO of n-Space posted on one of the threads: Well, the upshot is they are listening. He didn't give away much info but at least they are listening. I guess bitching might serve some purpose after all.

HK-47 made that game for me. KOTOR I was very good. Not great but one of the better games I've run through. KOTOR II had the potential to be worlds better but it was so chopped up, particularly at the end it just made the whole experience fall flat for me. Had they made the game they wanted to make it might have been one of the best RPGs ever.

We had company this weekend. My Wife's best friend and her husband. Good lord they could put some booze away. I'm starting my new job a week from today so that gives me a week to wrap up the big projects around the house. Starting with the fence.

Tonight is Game 3 of Hell week and so far the Grizz are 2-0. On to MSG & the Knicks.

Well, I'd suggest anyone considering buying in to hold off. Or forget it entirely. Unless DA:O Lite appeals to you. At least until after release. Just my $.02

From what I'm reading over there folks have definitely turned on the devs based on the info that has been released so far. Everything the D&D fans of old were hoping this would be... well it might not be.

Pff, alcohol rookies. A proud alcoholic who knows his sh!t drinks water and eats between his drinks, and he never forgets to guzzle tons of water before going to bed. This way you can be drunk every single day and actually enjoy it. Rookie huh? Young man I assure you I had dropped more empty bottles in the trash than you will in a lifetime before you were old enough to bench press a plastic rattle toy! I had no idea you were a trash collector! Is it a secure job?

The function of the executive is to be a check on Congress and to enforce the laws that congress passes and he/she signs. Apparently our current President missed that day they taught that in law school. A Paul Ryan presidency, while not the best outcome it certainly would not be bad, would be defined why what Congress looks like and how well he can work with them. If Congress is controlled by the left then at least he can protect us from them and they can protect us from him. That is how it is supposed to work. That Congress has allowed the President to modify existing law outside the legislative process and selectively choose which laws he will enforce and which he won't is absolutely unforgivable.

Pff, alcohol rookies. A proud alcoholic who knows his sh!t drinks water and eats between his drinks, and he never forgets to guzzle tons of water before going to bed. This way you can be drunk every single day and actually enjoy it. Rookie huh? Young man I assure you I had dropped more empty bottles in the trash than you will in a lifetime before you were old enough to bench press a plastic rattle toy!

I was very drunk last night. And well into this morning truth be told. After 6 hours sleep... well still feel like crap.

Might I suggest that then, perhaps, you are listening to the wrong people and news outlets? From an outsider's perspective, it looks like Americans are afraid of even listening to "underdog" candidates, and that's even before some "clever" pundit tags them as communists, radical leftists, or whatever. They couldn't possibly win, so what's the point, right? This is a sort of sad self-fulfilling prophecy. Do you expect the people who implemented and consolidated the attacks on your freedom to reverse the process of their own volition? I was actually a big fan of the Green Party when they had Ralph Nader at the helm. I haven't looked into them much lately. But I appreciate the sentiment of limiting corporate power in the country. I do want to see a third party arise in this country. I think it should be a hardcore moderate party built on compromise are rational solutions. I live in a dream world, obviously. Corporate power? Are you serious? What power do you think corporations have? Can they throw you in jail? Can that seize your life savings? Can they take your guns, your home, your children from you? The most powerful corporation in the world could not take one penny from your checking account without your permission, Hurlshot. The smallest government right there in your home county can take it all. Corporations do have money no doubt. And they are not afraid to use that money to get the government to swing the big stick for them. If we take the stick away from the government then everyone is safe. If we give the government a bigger stick and hope they use it against the corporations we forget that sooner or later the use the stick on us. You don't invite in the lion to help you with the bear. If you do you just end up in the lions belly instead.

Even if he does the President can't make or change laws. I know the filthy son of a b---h we have now has been doing that very thing, illegally, by misusing executive orders and, for reason that stupefy me, has been allowed to get away with it. But if I vote for Paul and he begins using executive authority to do things no President should be able to do then I am against him. Even if it's something I agree with. Congress makes laws. Congress changes laws. ONLY Congress. The preservation of the separation of powers is far more important that any political outcome. The left in this country will say the ends justify the means if they get what they want. But that is so short sighted because the executive power that has been seized at the expense of Congress and the people will someday be in the hands of someone they don't like.

Do you expect the people who implemented and consolidated the attacks on your freedom to reverse the process of their own volition? Now that is hitting the nail squarely on the head. That is why if there is ever to be any reform it MUST come from the State governments because the Federal government is hopelessly out of control for this very reason. The ones who benefit from the intrusion on freedom will never be the ones to stop it from happening. That is why so few justices like Scalia & Thomas, actual 10 amendment champions ever get nominated. The other alternatives are we continue down the road we're on until the very notion that we are a free republic is a joke. Or, at some future point we fight. I always wondered if Obama realized how close he came to a limited armed insurrection over the Cliven Bundy affair? I'm not saying it was a good cause to fight over, it really wasn't. I'm not saying Bundy deserved the support, he really didn't. But folks are getting so angry about the heavy handed treatment from Sodom-on-the-Potomac many are looking for a fight.

And now Villanova is out. My bracket, already on life support, is now shot.

I just bought two tickets to the Grizz/Cavs game. I was expecting that game to be near sold out and there to be plenty of tickets to the Grizz/Warriors game. It was the other way around. All that's left for GSW is the club seats (which start at $200 no thank you) and the nosebleed. I got sect 205 2nd row. Not too bad. I guess Lebron is not the draw I thought he'd be.