LadyCrimson

Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream ...I can't speak for it's veracity, but it did make me feel momentarily guilty about buying Brawny paper towels, since it's owned by Koch Industries, and the doc. doesn't seem to like Koch very much.

Themes of loyalty, love, loss, bonding, wanting to protect/cherish what you care for etc. are universal and not exclusive to blood familial relationships. ... I actually tend to find stuff like two enemies coming to grudgingly respect each other (or friends becoming enemies) or comrades-in-arms bonds/losses via their horrifying experiences a lot more interesting than the parent/child themes that get presented in most average entertainment. Of course, that could be because I don't have any kids. Just cats.

I should be doing my wash the dishes before I wash the dishes routine, but I'm feeling especially irreverent (in a good way) this late afternoon. Dull chores would ruin it. Hence I'm going out to paint the town, instead.

*thinks about making a Diablo2 desert mercenary spear-jabbing joke* *better not*

I liked (but didn't love) the old series that I saw as reruns as a wee lass. I saw the ads for this movie and "Depp" and "Bonham Carter" = "nope." Not because I don't respect their potential abilities, but because I'm so so tired of their schtick. But it did look like the action scenes might be entertaining.

What in the world is that canned food, anyway? Rice and squash with gravy gel? ...played some Planet Explorers, strength-exercised my knees/legs (short periods multiple times a day...sigh), danced around the living room with a cat (one day I should try to get a video of that), watched TV, smooched the spouse.

I've spent entirely too much on gaming since Sept. of last year. I think I won't even look at the sale, this time.

Planet Explorers - now with a lot less flat terrain, more animals (including difficult ones) spread out everywhere, not just in certain areas, and weapon/gear durability finally implemented. Which wouldn't bother me except in the previous version, the only way to get a lot of "money" fast (which is just animal meat, basically) was to kill things. So based on that past experience, there I was, whacking animals with a lowly stone sword to gather meat, and it didn't take long for it to break - not long at all. And I don't see/have no idea how/who/what to repair it in the early game/areas. I was about to get kinda mad about this, but then... ...I discovered a certain type of tree (common) now gives you chunks o' rubber, where it didn't before (so I guess it's a rubber tree), so all I have to do is chop down several trees, sell the rubber for meat, repeat as often as you want and wallah. I can buy whatever I want in the store to start me out quickly. And in this game, if there's one thing you aren't likely to run out of, it's the trees... I found it interesting tho, with all the discussions on durability in the P.E. forums ... me starting to get annoyed over it (because the rate seems too high), then finding a solution/option that let me get around it. Later it's all about guns/ranged and durb. is less of an issue. I may still think it's too fast, tho...I'll see how the higher quality/self-made items do first.

I consider any non-fiction or novel about global pandemics to fit this category.

I is sad that there are no more double-diamonds even if it means I can go back to being more efficient about actual profession leveling instead of AD-collecting. At least I only have 1.5 levels to go and I'll finally have one chr. with maxed Leadership! Those last 3-4 levels really do take an eternity.

Please don't take this the wrong way, because I am always interested in/fascinated with weapons (and warfare history) of all kinds and from many periods of time. But I do find it constantly amazing how much energy we human beings put into the creation of weapons. Sometimes I think it's only 2nd to the energy we put into trying to get laid.

Palpatine = evil Young adult, pre-Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker = douche

I dunno...I typically play on whatever the "normal/default" settings are, initially. I usually don't care about super hard combat/game challenge the first time through, I just want to see the game, do the quests, see the sights, explore, take my time, etc. But if it turns out that's easy enough where I feel like I could play with my eyes closed or something, I'll start over on something harder until I find my preference. As long as "harder" doesn't only mean food and thirst meters.

Hubs wanted to watch the recent film version of 21 Jump St. I snorted but sat down anyway and expected little....but it was actually fairly funny, in that satirical/juvenile way, at least in spots. Towards the latter third my laughter died down a lot, but for a free viewing, it was ok. Never got into the TV show - tho I remember it was popular, it made Depp a teen idol, and it wasn't a comedy - but the film was plenty watchable without knowing anything about that.

Time to get a boat? That's some serious rain...must have happened fairly quickly too, with everyone getting stuck in the flooding like that. Were you able to get home from the office?

Couldn't even take the cellphone and sneak some shots/video? Did they confiscate such before the tour? Anyway, sounds like an interesting place and one I'd love to visit.

---First runs through rpg's I'm almost always "average good," but with a lot of thievery tossed in. Or at least morally neutral/non-committal. If there's a decided gameplay advantage to not being good (better gear reward vs. just gold/xp, or I'd get to keep a companion I want, say), I'll do it. ---Second runs, usually the same thing. ---Third runs ... I might start to take more of the "evil" options just to see what happens, then once I know, go back to being mostly good/neutral. ...generally speaking, while I love a good bad guy in movies/books, I don't find it all that entertaining to be one in video games - altho sometimes, it can make me lol.

Downloading alpha 0.6 of Planet Explorers! They had the torrent D/L option up late last night, along with emailing the access keys, but I waited for the direct link. I'd prefer to wait a bit longer on a slower D/L than have to install yet another program just to D/L something. I'm weird that way. The list of changes is huge, and I like most of them. Hopefully I won't be one of the minority that encounters oodles of game breaking bugs. We shall see!

*waves* Welcome, and thanks for helping to keep the TechFAQ going!

I think there is/was two actual main issues - the concept of durability itself, and tying durability to crafting as a possible/alternate gold sink or something. Durability as a mechanic, if done well, can/does add some of that "realism" mechanic that some people like (akin to having to manage hunger, thirst, inventory weight, etc.). I would not say it's an automatic bad design just because armor degrades in combat and one has to repair it occasionally. Now, I personally don't like to manage such things to a great extent, even in a story-RPG ... but that's why I'm always fine with some kind of expert/hardcore option that includes them or has a more severe version of it.

So that's why the center barriers always seem to have those consistent black rubber lines at the half-way point! ....hopefully they didn't end up killing anyone.

Woldan gets +3 for the Miami Vice t-shirt. @Ros - I see a lot of people doing that sort of stuff at/around our beaches too...some people, I believe, actually take off in the lightly wooded mts a fair distance from the coast and glide all the way to the beaches. Some summer days it feels like the entire sky is filled with them, now.

Dead Island's durability mechanic was indeed extreme and terrible. But I'd agree with TrashMan that using one of the worst examples as a reason why durability always sucks/should never be used or something is a tad hyperbole-ish. As I've said before, I'm not a big fan of durability in games, but there have been plenty of games I've played that had it, where it bothered me not at all. Which isn't to say I enjoyed that it existed per se ... only that it was implemented in such a way that during actual gameplay, it really had little impact on me, unless I was trying something super duper oddball that sort of forced the issue, and even then it wasn't much of a thing. eg, I didn't feel inconvenienced by its mere existence, so if other players enjoyed having it there...why not.

Back in the late 80's when I partied more, I used to like Pizza Hut's Pepperoni Lovers pizza. But that was probably because I was drunk when we ordered one, and we'd order one because we were too drunk to go anywhere to pick something up. In those situations, sometimes even a microwaved beef/cheese sandwich from 7-11 can taste good.

Tried Pizza Hut's flatbread promo pizza. It was edible, but I won't be getting it again. To be fair, I don't like Pizza Hut much to begin with (or Domino's, or any of those super cheap pizza places). But I was curious about the flatbread part, so I tried it once. Kinda like eating a giant stale cracker, with a bit o' cheese and greasy toppings on top. Almost no sauce. And their black olives are horrible. Only if they read the dailymail to know that. ;)