LadyCrimson

Immersion is a hard thing to define, imo, tho. It means different things to different people. No single game is going to provide it for the majority of people on the planet. I don't like Justin Bieber, but that doesn't mean I think Justin Bieber shouldn't exist or be able to do what he does, or that he should change and make music that I personally like. A lot of mental immersion is emotion based which is always difficult to pin down ... which is why a lot of the time, more easily definable technical stuff tends to get a larger focus.

Immersion for me is that tunnel vision aspect I've mentioned. It's about being so focused on whatever it is I'm enjoying, that even when I notice, I don't care if swords/physics are realistic or if the town is populated by deco-npc's or not or if one could actually upload a virus with a Mac to an alien spaceship. Because I'm still having fun, even if I know something is ridiculous or inaccurate. And as Sharp said, such is a pretty personal thing in terms of threshold of tolerance. I'm not sure it's something Obsidian could purposely "balance" for. It's not a concrete enough sort of thing.

Different cities have different laws, too. Hulrshot lives in a more farm-y area with a lot more local farmer's markets here and there. I'm rather smack dab in the middle of total industrial suburbia. It's not that one couldn't have a chicken for a pet or something. Or that you couldn't get away with a chicken pen for a while if no neighbors noticed/complained. Or some areas, maybe you just need to apply for a breeder/cattery permit, like you do if you want to (legally) have more than a handful of cats. Varies wildly. And yeah, convenience. I'm not driving 30-60 minutes (one direction) on a busy freeway towards Hurlie's area or across the Bay into the Valley just to buy a live or just butchered chicken.

My definition of "ironman" came from Diablo, rather than a SP game. Thus something like this, with minor variations depending on mood or objective:

If it looked like a gameplay-mechanic style+environment etc. that I'd be even remotely intrigued with, I'd buy it. But if I thought the chance of me even bothering to install it to look at it was about 0, then no. Like South Park. I love you Obsidian and will always try to support you as much as possible/wish you success at all times, but sorry, not getting that one.

The more I read about Gromir's dinner lifestyle, the more I want to hang out at his house for a meal. The weird thing about chain supermarkets here is even when they're stocked, the raw chicken's really aren't any bigger than the resultant pre-cooked ones. At least, not that I've seen. Seriously, they're small. Anyway, since I'm pretty sure running your own backyard chicken coop/butcher is likely illegal here - might get away with a laying hen or two, but that's it - I don't have many close by local options in that regard.

Not having read or heard of the existence of that book, the flying car bit only made me think of Back to the Future. "Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads!" *whooosh* (which seems to have been lifted from that book, I suppose).

I'm personally not into roleplaying child/mass innocent murders, so I wouldn't take advantage of it even if it's in the game. Outside of quests that involve kids in some way, I also don't care if there are pointless decoration-flavor kids wandering about town. I'd prefer if child-death was only quest related, as in making a decision during the quests that would/would not involve that result in some fashion. That said, I'd be all for the ability to slap any scripted to be annoying kids, especially if it made them cry and run away and never pester me again. Oh and ... I personally can't stand it when a game gives you "child killer" type negative status when you accidentally harm some idiot decoration-kid who blithely jiggs into your line of fire when a bunch of mages script-ambush you in the center of town where such mindless npc's roam everywhere. Because I don't consider that fair or reasonable in terms of gameplay (the auto-negative status).

Got to a point where all the AD I make has nowhere to really go, so I finally bought the cat "augment" pet. Only 833AD now too, instead of a million. After leveling it up and gearing it (mostly with blue gear), I've decided "everyone" is right. The augment pets are the only ones really worth using. All their stats get added to yours, not just a tiny percentage, so it's basically like being able to wear 6 more items. Still love the other pets for fun/casual, but ... yeah. Augments. Also, so tired of the "pants with flowing skirt drop" look of most female gear. Especially when the skirt part can clip to show under your mount. The only true pants seem to be the Peasant Pants, so I dyed and paired those with the Festival top. It works.

Re: chicken The weird thing is where I live, whole raw chickens aren't very popular in the average grocery store. Sometimes a store has none at all. I'm guessing this is because stores discovered they sell a lot more pre-cooked rotisserie deli chickens, which at this point are about the same price as a raw one ($11-$13). When I told hubby this, he was all "no wai" until he saw it himself. I could go to something like Costco and maybe get a pack of 4 or 6 raw for cheaper, but I have no need for that many whole chickens at once, let alone the fridge/freezer space. Used to buy packs of 8-10 skin-on/bone-in thighs or legs decades ago (I'd pull the skin off), which was nice because they fit into a 9x13 pan, but I don't even see those all that often anymore.

You mean "Return of the Jedi" ? ....those mental lapses come more and more often these days.

Saw the Agents of Shield. Totally preposterous (of course! ), a bit on the silly side, and I kept thinking about Men In Black or a superhero James Bond, but I liked it quite a bit anyway. Altho mostly I think that's because of Clark Gregg (Coulson). I was utterly delighted he was there and I had to wonder what was with the "he really doesn't know..." bit. Maybe he's a clone. But I love that character and what Gregg does with it.

I have absolutely no guilt when it comes to ant genocide if they're being an indoor home problem. Or roaches. I would if it was jumping spiders, but if there was a plethora of those in the house I'd leave them alone and just have fun watching them jump around the furniture. And take pictures.

Trying a new simple random baked chicken/rice dish. Winter's coming so that means I'm more likely to run the oven, since it's nice to toss things in there and forget about it for an hour or three. Over the many years, I've constantly tried to do something with baking chicken (via an oven, not grilling/pan fry/fried) that appeals to me enough that I want to make it regularly. So far, I'm largely convinced such a thing doesn't exist. It's not that I don't like chicken, I just don't like healthy-ily prepared chicken (skinless, low salt, low fat, etc). It's boring and tastes flat and bland, especially if in large chunks/whole sections. The best I've come up with is just pouring a ton of fresh made Mexican type tomato/onion/pepper salsa over skinless chicken breasts. What spices and such do you like to use with chicken?

How is one to recognize the blissful moments as being blissful if there are never any moments of at least mild annoyance?

Everything's a trope/cliche. Especially the older one gets, haha. It's how that trope is achieved that gives the illusion (or more rarely, a reality) of it being something you haven't personally seen before.

2 years ago - Me: "You need to ant-fog up in the roof space, they're nesting in the walls and come in the house when it's cold/rainy. It'll get worse all the time."** ... Hubby: "Uh huh." 1 year ago - Me: "Ants in the walls. Still need to deal with that." ... Hubby: "Uh huh." Today: Me: "Going to the store." *gets back 40 min. later* Hubby: *running around kitchen with a wet rag* ... "We were attacked by ants!" (recent pizza box left on top of the fridge) Me: "Figure out where they're coming from?" Hubby: "Yeah, over here. Looked outside, didn't see a trail leading into the house." Me: "That's because .... they're in the walls." Hubby: *silence* **the ceiling opening to roof space is in hubby's office closet, which is filled with ... stuff.

"Evil was vanquished, cute teddy bears danced in the trees....." --Oh wait, that was Empire Strikes Back, never mind. "Evil was vanquished, the populace got fall down drunk, and everyone everywhere got a free kitten." --Perfect. ....more seriously, I like relatively "good" endings, but I like them even more if they were preceded by a lot of tragedy first. Because then it means more.

I prefer a chocolate shake, Baby Ruth and Cheeto's, myself. Actually, I'll just take the chocolate shake. A real one, none of that weird, gummy McDonald's type glop.

Despite what the movies like to show, it's pretty hard to ignite gasoline/fumes with a lit cigarette. Which isn't to say it's impossible or that one should feel free to smoke around gas pumps and such - only that it's not very likely to occur.

They're games, not university courses. There's a reason terms like "influenced by," "inspired by" etc. exist. I also feel fairly certain that the odds are probably high that pretty much all cultures/countries like to fudge historical accuracy (or use omission) at times. We all like to make ourselves look good/better when it comes time to write the history books. Harping on a game not being ultra-realistic or having a slant towards some particular viewpoint is like harping on a fictional, blockbuster entertainment movie that does the same thing. P.S. I do get that sometimes blatant stereotypes in entertainment get old/annoying now and then, but some artistic license isn't always a bad thing.

Time for the pre-winter housecleaning! *scrubdustshakewashputaway* Also, our latest energy co. bill claims a "new and improved, easier to read statement!" Which as far as I can tell, mostly equals larger text printed on larger sized paper, creating more waste. I guess they added a graph too, to let you know how extremely poorly you fare against what they think should be "normal" energy usage. Or perhaps they should get more with the times about what "normal" usage is in this high-tech geek-filled area.

On the subject of aesthetics, I was thinking the other day that as I get older, the more I realize how much a game's setting influences my enjoyment, especially now that we have such improved graphic capabilities (both 2D and 3D). Or maybe I'm thinking of environment? Or a combo of both? That is, I enjoy tromping around a forest, a sandy/windy desert, the edge of a grassy lake, climbing snow capped mountains, and creeping through dark twisty caverns. It's an atmosphere and scenery thing. Doesn't have to be a carbon copy Earth type environment, just that it feels outdoorsy/organic. And for whatever reasons, such environments tend to be found more in "fantasy" rpg's. I don't tend to enjoy bustling/noisy cities, wandering amid shadowed skyscrapers and paved streets or inside office buildings, traffic and honking horns, looking at neon signs everywhere, and so on. It feels oppressive and not where I'd "naturally" like to be and dampens my gaming tunnel vision. So games with those types of environments being dominant tend not to appeal, even if the gameplay itself might be something I'd like. Such settings work fine/I may even want them in a movie, but for some reason I don't like it games as much. Go figure? This mostly applies to RPG's with an exploration value, of course. Sim-strategy it's not quite as important, altho it'll still influence a bit. And of course, there have been games set in sci-fi/futuristic or mech urban environments that were fine/awesome. But they'll usually have a mix, so it's not all-city or all-indoors and I can get a break.

Forget rings ... I"d like some Argyle Socks of Odoriferous Smiting.

That happens to me all the time when I make something that has a lot of loose stuff to put in or on top. Like when I make mini-pizza rounds and I want to pile on too many toppings for the small breads to hold...I've never been a minimalist.