LadyCrimson

Spent too much time trying to get Dungeon Keeper 2 to run in high resolution. Apparently you can alter the registry and play in 1280x800 or 1920x1080, which looks great and all - relatively speaking - but then you lose all the text in the options type menus, meaning you can't save a game because the cursor isn't in the right place and the text is gone etc. Oh well. So much for that. ...hm. Uploaded attachment seems to have been resized. Not that anyone is going to care, but the 1080 one is here.

I like how they disabled comments and ratings. The first half of that video is terrible, like the worst SNL news sketch ever. lol

True enough. Lately I feel like the answer to that is something akin to "Everything, but yet Nothing."

That about says it all right there. I mean, who knows, the game itself might have some merit to it, if we ever get to see it. But this whole process, from what little I know at least, doesn't exactly inspire confidence or desire to help out.

Well, obviously I don't know you, your family, or your wife in any social capacity that would make me be able to give anything but cursory advice. I've had my own share of family issues over the years (more than my share, really) and my relations with them have gone up and down and back again. My spouse wasn't/isn't the biggest fan of my family, largely from lack of common ground, but also from different styles of upbringing (what's considered polite/acceptable social behavior etc). It's different for us tho because generally speaking, we don't care that much whether we're all one big happy family, and I don't make him go to or care if he goes to my family functions if he doesn't feel like going, and vice versa. Anyway, I can say this...a lot of the time stuff like the examples in your dad's letter are simply a matter of different ways of communicating. My sister-in-law is one of those very loud speakers, and rather blunt. My entire family is soft-spoken and polite almost to an extreme (at least when together as a family). eg, they're somewhat passive-aggressive. The contrast is startling, and I often imagine if my sister-in-law regularly came to my own family gatherings, my family would look at her in bewilderment, like some kind of strange dervish was in their midst. Thus, to your father/family, they're reading things into what your wife says because she may be saying things in a way that they misinterpret, according to their own set of social standards and opinions on what vocal intonation is "supposed" to mean. Perhaps, for example, your wife was telling a joke re: the Vegas thing (I don't know if that's true, it's just an example) and your family is taking it too seriously/saw it as being talked down to. If you all sit down and try to work such things out, but they're still unwilling to accept that not everyone socializes/communicates in the same way...that is, they can't stop resenting it/making passive-aggressive assumptions instead of shrugging it off or communicating in a timely fashion....I'm not sure there's much you can do about it. (edit: I don't mean it's "hopeless"...but that sometimes it's just something that'll never be fully reconciled...and each of you will find ways to make it tolerable in some fashion or another, for brief visits perhaps)

More paperwork + filing today! ... seems like we could get the mortgage refinanced to save us quite a bit per month and thus pay it off even faster by turning around and putting some of that back into the payments. And after 4.5 years, we're now no longer in the red if we wanted to sell the house "today", might even make a tiny profit, har. We bought when prices were already dropping but they still dropped a little more after that. We've been lucky since this area holds its value fairly well even in a bad economy. So ... progress. *does a little jig* Course, we started late, so if we don't live past 65-58 or so, we might still be in a little debt when we die. But then we won't care, because we'd be dead. Ha, ha, ha!

Heh, k, guess that is is the processor reward tier then. I suppose having the processor in it makes it something to send faster. Most of the rest of the physical tier thingies are dependent on the game being completed/near completed. .... but still, I protest...because they could at least send me my t-shirt. ... eh, maybe they haven't figured out what to put on it yet. Blazing Hero, sounds like a nice haul. I didn't need the processor but I'd love the pen and the patches. Heh.

That pet rock might be a good mate for Boo.

Wait, if someone got their "loot bag," wouldn't that imply they were shipping the physical KS tier stuff? I sure haven't gotten anything that implied they've done anything towards that yet. (Or was that one thing a special case, shipped earlier/separate times?) I figured the OP was talking about the inventory stash thing in the last update, which could sorta be seen as that magical "loot bag" in some rpg games of past.

This. They should definitely take up a companion slot. Altho, in terms of the defenseless part, I did like how in Dungeon Siege they were at least able to do a little kicking to defend themselves. They still largely tried to run away, however (a few kicks if cornered, then running away if they could), eg, they weren't combat helpers, it was just defensive. Seemed to be a nice way to do it. I have a feeling tho, that pack mules would be largely extraneous, since the inventory already will have a similar concept built in to it. So unless they'd be actual pet-companions (permanent/travel with you, combat, skills, ala MMO's) instead, I don't see the gameplay benefit/attraction...they'd have to give Monty Hallish extra "stashing" space to seem worth using...and if they felt like giving that much carrying space, they could just do that with the backpack system, which they're already making. Less time/resources that way.

Very nice. My husband can build all kinds of stuff, but he's more of the practical side rather than the craft side, if you get what I mean. That piece looks nice enough that even I, who cares little about furniture things, would find it nice to display somewhere. Altho, I'd probably use it for something other than storing wine since I don't drink.

Not too much for me on GoG at the moment either, but I've liked how they've been expanding. For some of the indie games now, I check GoG first...since I'd much rather buy it there then on Steam. Or even some of the older games (like Prince of Persia). One day GoG will rule the world. At least in my dreams.

Noooo! ... well, my pocketbook mostly survived the last round, let's see if I can keep it in control this round too.

Total Recall (remake) - not that I was expecting much in the first place, but yeah, ok, that wasn't very good. The whole "The Fall" (elevator through the center of the Earth, haha) and split land areas isn't nearly as interesting as Mars. And the ending was way over the top.

"Discovered 53GB of files. Copying. Estimated time 30 minutes." ....I need faster USB.

You're all wrong ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWxIb7by62M

I love the convo/commentary bits. Good stuff.

Not to be rude, but people who believe that gaming companies should design their video games based on what-if considerations for 10-12 years in the future give me a great laugh.

Made a big bowl of Caesar salad (just a simple one) to go with dinner tonight, but since I made it ahead of time, hubby and I polished it off already. My fave store-bought Caesar dressing is Brianna's Asiago. A bit strong flavored, but awesome. After dinner, we'll be settling in to watch that remake of Total Recall. Heat and blankets to chase the cold weather away, good food, movie ... another awesome day in Candyland!

Tri-tip can be awesome, depending how it's done. Those slo-cooked BBQ rub ones are divine. Not a tri-tip, but making a beef roast right now, in fact. Any time is the right time for beef.

I have a feeling the majority of people will think the game looks just fine, with the choices being given (and a lot of thought seems to have gone into those options, which I appreciate). I know we all like a game to look pretty on our personal screens and have a PoV that looks nice to our eyes, but honestly, I think some of you are putting a little too much emphasis on the resolution/scale issue. This isn't Peter Jackson's The Hobbit. Guess I'm not very geeky in this area tho...gameplay over resolution nitpicks for me any day.

I'm not sure precisely. I think it's due to how social media stuff is now getting integrated with other websites and whatnot. Occasionally I see links that have a rogue "/!/" in it, and the only thing I have noticed is that I only see it if it's picking up on my Facebook or something, and it often isn't necessary as part of the link (and can cause issues). I don't see any difference in blockable scripts between the two links, but I use NoScript. There's no difference in blockable scripts that I can initially see (some scripts don't show up in NoScript until you allow another one first). Does have facebook-com (not facebook-net) as one tho. ... maybe scripts have nothing to do with what you're seeing tho.

Voodoo! ...I have nothing against ATI cards. They're a fine option. I just tend to prefer nVidia's software interface/options and drivers. Plus I could care less about who might have that slight performance edge per new card release. Started with them, they haven't given me any trouble personally, so I stick with them. I don't like change I guess.

That's fine, but it all depends on what the consumer ends up doing, doesn't it? They can plan and push all they want, but it doesn't mean people will buy. Think of all the people who refused to switch to Vista (or even Win7) from XP forever and ever and ever. I know that's not the same, but the point is ... you might be surprised how many consumers are tired of buying (when they still have something that works "fine"), especially when their wallets are pinched. Anyway, I'm not against it happening faster or anything. But those tech journals/articles/conventions/innovators/companies etc. can predict and push all the time ... doesn't mean it'll happen that fast in real world application. You'll have some tech-geeks who will buy fast, but the "masses" typically are a lot slower to make changes like this. That's all I was saying. It's not buying the latest iPad or iphone for cool points.

Bankruptcy laws in the US....ah well, this kinda sucks. I'm not educated on this sort of thing, but often feels like these kind of deals can be iffy long term (for the sellers claiming things will be "ok," I mean), but I hope the buyer in short term, at least, leaves well enough alone and won't meddle with South Park release or Obsidian's development of it etc. :/