LadyCrimson

The "problem," so to speak, at least on this forum, is that the topic of romance in PoE was beaten to death (and caused a lot of locked threads, heh) in the distant past, so it tends to be one of those touchy subjects for many, here, at this point. I personally don't have any issue with there being one or two romance options in a game, as long as it's not a forced-issue (eg I don't have to romance to progress). But on the other side, I don't care if there aren't any specific romance options, either. I can't think of any game I've personally played where I liked the way a romance plotline was handled. Although I do often find the non-committal flirtation moments between non-player chrs. really amusing or something, like Atton's jealous bickering re: Disciple in Kotor2.

I can't speak to whether such "fits" into the game in ESO or not, but I did find the article funny simply on the basis that so many games do have rather pretentious sounding bits of dialogue and/or names, regardless of whether it works or not. As to Cleese ... well, not everyone likes the Cleese schtick, which I can understand even if I don't agree with it. It's interesting how people (including me) so often feel like they can only play one, sometimes. Graphically I think I found DayZ more appealing for some reason, but that's just from the screenshots, which can be misleading. I think more importantly, for me, would be the player community. eg, if I can't even get a chr. off the ground because people are camping spawn points or something, that's no fun. They should at least wait until I'm rooting around in a cabin near the spawn point.

Assuming I get the jist of your post ... yes, that's usually why I emphasize I haven't read the book. Because I know a lot of people who did read the book who were so disappointed with the movie. Sometimes in the past if I didn't mention I haven't read the book, I'll often be regaled with how I should read the book, because the book explains everything so much better or whatever - and I really don't care, since I'm talking about the movie. Heheh. Although sometimes, I do things the other way around too - I'll say I have read the book because I'm also saying I liked the movie better than the book.

I have this sudden vision of a party full of Druids. Cats ftw! Still loving the interior designs, too. ...I don't know about you, but when this fall is nearing its end, I know I'm going to be endlessly joking "Winter is coming!" while cackling with anticipatory glee. I try not to think too much about what the game might be, because I prefer to find out what the game is (when released), but I love the updates, so as always, thanks for them.

Despite a couple hours of attempts now and then, I still can't focus on gaming, in general. I guess I'm just saving myself up for Pillars of Eternity...

The time capsule of seeing what my pc specs were even in the not-huge-past year of 2006 makes me giggle, now.

That flu I had, the fever effect was strange to me. I'm usually the sort where a fever has to get really high (104F+) before I even notice I have one. Usually I can have a high fever and still run around doing everything under the sun with nary a blip. So it was very strange to me for a fever of 101-102 to knock me out/make me feel dizzy/spaced out/want to sleep constantly etc. Nasty bug.

(looks at pic of that giant hammer) Hahahahahahahahahaha!!

Ender's Game - Note: I have not read the book and won't be reading the book (I do know of book...never could get into O.S.C tho). Watching it as a movie, independent of book comparisons, the film was mildly watchable, and I'd imagine on the big-screen those battle scenes were cool to look at it. The actors, imo, all did ok/fine. But it felt a bit perfunctory/cold and I had little reason to care about this big war, the supposed enemy, and had no sense of danger or impending doom, so, y'know, in the end ... who cares. I kept thinking of Tron for some reason. Anyway, I don't regret watching it or anything. It was nice eye candy, just not emotionally engaging in any way. Harrison Ford is beginning to really creep me out when he's on screen, tho. I'm not sure why. Maybe they put too much make up on him to try to hide that he's pretty darn old now - gives him a rubber face look?

Rust (the most popular imitator, I gather) is cheaper...I wonder how they compare.

The mudcrab and horse are in the same package ... don't have to choose, can have both! It's not that I'd mind having a horse, I'm sure it's handy at times, but I never really liked horse riding in Skyrim, so I doubt I'd like it that much here.

For the past week or two, I keep going back to stare at the DayZ early access page. While not normally my type of game, somehow, going in and constantly being in fear that someone is going to kill you for your shirt and a piece of fruit as soon as you spawn, or while walking down a road, or while trying to save someone else, is kinda appealing. But the price seems a little steep for early access and a lot of bugs...

It's obviously made of a special, weaponized, transparent aluminum alloy.

I'm glad your mother came to visit, Woldan. Good thing she was there. Today I'm going to buy a new slow-cooker and make some tasty beef soup. The grey weather has me in the mood for such. Plus it makes the house smell nice.

I gave up on trying to watch sports in the Olympics. The only supposedly live coverage is on nbc's cable channel (not their "network" channel) after midnight (my time) and while I'm often a night owl, the selection of what they're choosing to broadcast isn't really my thing. Well, there was one skating bit at 6am or something but I'm not staying up that late. I don't mix politics with my sports and I don't know anything about this years athletes, either, so no investment in that fashion. It mostly just makes me miss baseball season.

Not really TV series but I've been watching a lot of the 30/30 ESPN sports docs on Netflix. Some are better than others, while a few were mostly interesting to me because I remember watching it as it happened (Tonya Harding). I especially liked the one that wondered why sports fans/media so wants a "scapegoat" when teams don't win, and how often the scapegoat may not even have been the biggest (rational) factor. Also, Heads Up, a documentary re: contact sports and concussion risks. Interesting (if not surprising) and a little frightening, mostly in terms of young children. Maybe mild head concussions where "no one even thinks it's a concussion" experiences explains a few things about me.

The mudcrab is part of the digital Imperial edition. If I were to pay early for this game, I must have mudcrab. The horse I don't care about. Imperial race ... can take it or leave it, although the Imperial armor stuff sounds interesting. From what I'm reading, crafting-alts may be ... optimal. I hear my task-obsessive nature calling. Still, ES and I don't tend to = longevity so that makes me hesitate on a personal level. Looks very pretty, however. And I like that it seems you can explore quite extensively even if that means you're most likely going to die. What I'd be most interested in is what lvl25+ people think, but I think that's still off-limits to discuss or something.

So if you pre-order the $79 pack, can you try it for the 5 days as soon as you order, or does it mean you get to play 5 days early? (March 31, say) $80 is cheaper than that NW:Online pack I bought, so eh...well, we'll see. I need more info about micro-transactions (there are micro-transactions, right?) I do kinda object to subscription plus micro-transaction model, even if the micro-transactions are vanity oriented. I'd rather they offer an optional higher monthly tier ($20-25/m, for example) that includes the vanity stuff instead.

One of my main irritations with the ES series has always been the combat mechanics. Don't like 1st person melee, and the 3rd person never felt quite right. Does ESO change any of that or does it still all rather feel kind of awkward. At least some articles make it sound like ranged is fun-ish. The early impressions, now that the press embargo is off, don't exactly inspire. Especially the writing. Not that I'd play a MMO for the writing, really. But one complaint I'm seeing is a lack of impact feel to combat. I might like the exploration and quest design, tho. That sounds at least promising, for my style. rockpapershotgun's 1st several hours impression article made me laugh, tho, re: some of the tortured dialogue. http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/02/07/hands-on-the-first-few-hours-of-elder-scrolls-online/

Dangit, I should've have looked at the preorder page. Mudcrab pet! Dangit.... *goes off to read lukewarm reviews to temper desire for a mudcrab pet....*

Does it feel worth a subscription?

Tried to watch the first episode of Bates Motel. Seemed like it might be all right...I wasn't disliking it or anything. But couldn't focus on it so I turned it off for the moment. The woman playing the mother seems pretty good...the guy playing Norman felt a touch too twitchy, but otoh, appropriately weird and wimpy? wussy? repressed mamma's boy?

Are you saying it's going to be bad? It's just a Princess Bride reference, nothing more.

Pillars of Eternity - You Killed My Father, Prepare to Die Edition. ...I don't really see any reason for a subtitled title. They can save that for the sequel, if there is one.

Last thread Finally got around to watching "The Croods". It's not a Pixar masterpiece or anything, but I enjoyed it. Even made me chuckle a few times. The imagery was nice to look at, too. Plus, y'know, I want one of these.