LadyCrimson

Hm. That's actually a good question. It's usually the music that I notice first and often I won't think about the atmospheric or non-music sounds until later. I tend to notice hard sound effects (my chr. chopping wood, sword against sword) or atmospheric music more than general ambiance effects - Diablo 1's in-dungeon soundtrack combined with the character's footsteps is classic, imo. But I like the whisper of wind, the sound of rain (probably my fave...if a game had nothing but rain sounds, I'd be happy ), rustling trees, creaking metal, a river. What I call the "moody" sounds. One thing I don't tend to like is "distant murmuring crowds" effects, since most of the time they sound too artificial/busy, as well as repetitive. It's ok in short bursts like in some medieval strategy games, but generally, don't like. eg, stuff like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdMlKVio0LA

I'm not a fan of lentils in general but that actually doesn't sound bad. And I love naan. Now I'm hungry. Hmm. Food, then gaming.

Is the company who made your old, broken one still around? Maybe they still carry something similar? Or were you looking for an upgrade? I don't really know anything about it, but Crispin Freeman has a few recommendations on his website, from $100 and up. http://www.voiceacti...ery.com/toolbox

I know nothing about this game series, but are you recording in half-size with Fraps? That might help you with that a bit. But yeah...even then it can take a lot of space, depending on the game. Anyway ... good luck with that.

See, here's the nub. There's really no such thing as a "promance" or "nomance" thread, because in the end, they become indistinguishable from each other. So while there's nothing objectionable to this topic itself, it's not like "nomancers" haven't taken the opportunity or haven't had a chance to state their objections/be very clear about their opinions in all the other so-called "promance" threads. Hence...may as well just be the one thread. At least for now...still.

That's how I came away feeling after watching the video. I do like their stated goals about the game/gameplay hopes, but that's always an iffy thing. Seems like they have more of a handle on the tech they want to use/make vs. the gameplay they want to create, at this point. But I'll come back to it later too. They're not asking for tons for entry or final goal, and that video sure is impressive. Well, except that the character looks a bit doofy while running.

I guess I don't think too much about what, exactly, it is about a game that makes me latch onto it. Which is why I'm lousy at thinking of suggestions for such things. All I really know is if it sparks my brain in all the right pleasure centers, I will become completely and totally obsessed with the game, to the point of forgetting to eat dinner or going to bed. It could be some particular gameplay mechanic - phat loot worth hunting for, the OCD task of leveling up professions and exploration just to "see what is there", or the fun of building something that works well (strategy/sim games). It could be some story aspect - a companion whose story I relate to enough to make me start to care about them outside of what combat prowess they add to the party It could be a sense of humor that matches mine, where you're going through the game and semi-frequently something makes you LOL It could be visceral combat combined with a great music score that, for me, enhances the mood and fun of the battle scenarios to make them very memorable and thus I want to keep going to experience it again. ...and so on and so forth.

I've been aware of how "too much" sound can annoy me, but I hadn't really thought of how it relates to gaming, outside of how I'll sometimes turn the soundtrack off after a while (simply because I'm tired of hearing it after 50+ hours of playing...). But this might explain why I would get so tired while playing Borderlands 2. The noise of 10 guns firing, helicopters overhead, every enemy has callouts they say constantly, player chrs noises, driving soundtrack, story npc's making story and humorous chatter in the corner with those overlapping and often being interrupted by other story bits if you trigger them...it's quite a mess.

So I often have a big, clear-plastic glass of water by my keyboard, right. Was eating a sandwich for lunch just now and thought to myself, I'll just drink some of that bit o' water that's still in the glass from last night. Started to reach for it but thankfully, I noticed that there seemed to be something in the bottom of the glass. When I looked, it was the corpse of a pretty big spider. Just sitting at very the bottom of the glass, in the water. Dropped in from the ceiling and drowned, I assume. If the glass wasn't clear plastic and I had taken a drink before realizing that, I might have swallowed it. Please excuse me now while I go freak out a little bit.

Reminds me of this one silly FNV I made, where everyone was on fire.

I've been playing Torchlight2 recently, and I'd like to comment that not only "bark" spoken phrases are annoying ... but the combat grunts can be even worse. So please don't have characters make some noise like "urgh!" and "augh!" every time they swing their sword or get hit by an opponent. It's so irritating to hear "oof!" "ugh!" "ehh!" every 3 seconds.

I like it. It's not a long dull skill process like WoW. You can get cool items fishing in Torchlight...it's not about just getting fish and there's no cooking. The fish are for changing your pet into stronger creatures if you want. Plus, if you're too impatient, you can buy dynamite and just fish the spots that way (with a penalty to how many items you may get per fishing spot). The large chunky-monkey graphics are pretty old-school. The spell/lighting effects are better, but I feel like the style hasn't changed much from Fate. It works for the game, however.

*thinks about something to write about* ...can't think of anything. Pretty slow and takin' it easy past couple days, and weekend looks like more of the same. That's not a complaint.

Meh...I'd disagree. If you don't read the wiki's (there wasn't any when I played it) you won't know you're missing anything and can enjoy it on its own. I still don't feel like I missed anything important, outside of a few chr. references. It stands on its own fine enough. ...does depend a little on what you're looking for tho. Not understanding a few references doesn't bother me at all - I just keep on going and forget about it. I suppose it might bug some people a lot tho.

I played Kotor2 without knowing anything about Kotor1. I managed just fine. There were a few references here and there that I'm sure I didn't "get", but didn't stop me from loving the game and characters in Kotor2. I never felt "lost" or anything like that. I still haven't finished Kotor1. heh.

What I'm liking about Torchlight2 - dual wielding. Wands, pistols, claws. I've been largely investing in the "automatic" skills rather than the mana-costing ones, and just using the weapons as they are. For some reason, it's fun that way. Also, lots of Uniques already. No Legendaries, but it's still early. So...yeah...items and replay are much better than D3 so far. Map/dungeon design isn't bad, with secret rooms to find and some randomization. No enemy respawning, which I kinda miss yet kinda don't. Which isn't to say it's perfect, but for $20...it's a nice job. Fate was ok for what it was, Torchlight was kinda meh, and TL2 is where they get it right...at least for single player. Haven't tried MP and probably won't, since hubby isn't interested.

This brings to mind "Howls Moving Castle" and the system of multiple "housefronts" in different areas, with the actual house being ... somewhere else. Or something to that effect. Altho a walking/teleporting whole house would work just as well. Which, if there's magic in the world, seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to put in the game.

Nah, we get older than 21. The limit is actually 30. As in, "I turned 30 today! ... again!"

CoD...yet another game series I've never played. I'm starting to sound like Ebert with his "movie based on a TV series that was unseen by me" mantra. I think that so many votes for CoD just shows Obsidian's supporters get the joke and are joining in.

Just remember to wrap it in plastic before licking commences. Even if it came in a metal tin. Rust, y'know.

I like being able to pretend I'm 21 again, instead of pretending that when I turn 50, it'll be the new 25. But yeah, more seriously, I don't like it when RPG's are too age specific in terms of your own character. If the game has specific, laid out story reason for the pc to be young (or old), that's fine, but in a game where you're creating your character, I'd prefer a storyline that isn't locked into being one age. "You witnessed an event in your home village and have ventured forth to find answers" doesn't have to specify what age you are.

I know it's horrible for you, but sometimes a big bowl of Top Ramen (w/meat and stuff in it) on a cool morning just hits the spot. Winter comfort food. It's been a quiet week. Going to spend some time this afternoon catching up on TV. I always fall behind, even on series I like.

but if everything is huge...how can you tell? Tell what? That they're large weapons? Because they're longer than your character is tall, of course.

Manual pausing. I tried auto-pause and no matter the setting I always felt like the game was pausing when I didn't want it to, so I turned it all off. To this day I can't stand auto-pausing and still turn it off in all games, heh. I don't remember ever feeling a need to pause for traps. I just led the party by making each step forward very small.

"You've left me an opening!" ... ah, Kotor2 memories. ...most of the time I eventually learn to tune out combat barking. But agree it is annoying if they overlap/cut each other off too often. Other than that, I'm kinda like GhostofA: bark for the start of combat, critical hits, low health is tolerable, even if it does get repetitive. Also, a menu option to turn only the barks off would be fine with me...because even if I think the barks are funny, at some point I'm going to wish they'd shut up, so....