LadyCrimson

Wow, it doesn't get much more Diablo clone than that.. Right down to the two orbs in the corners The font even looks similar. D2 didn't have a half-naked chick in chains 'holding up' one of the orbs, tho.

Much as I like Path of Exile, I didn't feel like going back to it today (that Act2 kind of burnt me out a bit) so I went back to Darkstone for a couple hours. I'll play more PoE tomorrow. I do want to check out the other classes before they change it, so I have some notion of comparison value.

I definitely picked the right man to marry. It is so awesome (to me at least) to be with him for so many years & still be so similar in the ways that matter;to have nights where you can be just mouthing off at 1am about the world and everything you like/dislike about it...the sounding board sessions. And they understand. And agree. And laugh at your stupid jokes and you laugh at theirs. And all is right with the world then. I'm still so in love. *mushiness overload*

Settling in to try and watch the TB/Texas playoff game. But after hearing/reading about Tito no longer being the GM of the Red Sox, I am not feeling the baseball love right now. Edit: oops make that the Yankee playoff. I swear the TV said TB/Texas 5 minutes ago. Bah.

Forgot...if you do get in the beta to check it out and get the below glitch effect (the banding stripe at the top of the screen), perhaps also along with some strange screen jitter-jump during combat, turn off Post Processing in the options. Or some people had to turn AA off entirely. Just turning off PP worked for me tho, and I still get the AA at least.

Yeah, I'm hoping the new version/patch will address some of the things I'm personally nitpicking with. I didn't start feeling very nitpicky until about clvl 15. And could be at very high clvls my nitpicks would go away for some reason, too.

The game has a lot of the same structure (Acts, waypoints, etc) and of course the classes are similar to the way all such games are (there's always a mix of melee, mage, ranged, paladin or hybrid and/or thief in most fantasy rpg's, not just Diablo-clones). There's enough differences to make it interesting to play for a while. But as usual nothing in it is going to make anyone who dislikes hack n slash games like hack n slash games, however. Played a Duelist to lvl20 so far. My main two issues with the game on a personal level is that as currently implemented, combat becomes rather tedious/boring after a while. I mean, I know all D-clones are grind-fests and all that, don't get me wrong, but even within that definition it didn't take long for me to feel a little bored/annoyed that every step I take I'm attacked by 8-15 enemies. It feels a little too same-y all the time, at least when playing solo. And I don't like the combat-skill selection overmuch, tho it does work fine. Not supposed to post pics or go into details since of course it's all subject to change but here's my first thoughts: --potions that recharge during combat are pure genius and much better than floating orbs ala Diablo3. They're only active while in one of the belt slots (can't keep spare full ones in inventory) and the rate of recharge still creates a challenge in the harder fights, since you can easily use them up and be left with nothing. --The passive skill tree, which has nothing to do with the gems/skills - Holy Gigantic Endless Interconnecting Honeycomb, Batman! It leaves an impression. I'm sure it'll change a lot but still...holy carp. Fascinating and nothing I've ever seen in a D-Clone. --not sure I like the skill gems. Interesting in theory and it works "well enough". I'm just not sure I like it, at least the way they've implemented it at the moment. --For me, the item system as a whole doesn't feel very long-term interesting or loot-hunt addictive since it's mostly so connected to the skill-gem socket thing. It's kinda interesting at first but meh...figuring out how you want to do the passive skill tree is, for me, more motivation to kill-grind than the items. So far. --melee targeting (especially close up) is rather terrible & feels sluggish. Most of the time I'm just flailing away at my feet hoping I'll hit something. It works/I've survived as a dual-wielding swordsman, but ranged targeting is definitely so much better/easier. --no gold is nice, even if the item barter amounts to sort of the same thing. It makes those ID scrolls & other small things worth something...and they don't drop a ton either. Means you don't fill up your limited backpack very rapidly & can stay out in the field a long long time if you want. On the other hand, it means you have little reason to even look at/pick up 98% of anything...let alone use a precious ID scroll to ID anything that isn't a rare with the exact sockets you want. Basically, if you like Diablo type games, you're likely to like this one for a spin or two, especially since it's free. It's graphically decent, has some interesting elements along with the same ol' same ol', and if you're unhappy with D3 (for whatever reasons) this could be a substitute for you. We'll see. Still early.

I have absolutely no idea how to get a friend-invite key...I assume one has to request one on the forum or some similar method, which I'd feel bad about doing until I played longer/posted a lot etc. If I get one I'll give it over. Edit: you posted while I was typing. hehe. Glad you're in then.

Looks sweet, thanks. Turns out some other online friends are all playing, I might be able to get a friend invite from one of them faster than the company deciding to choose me. We'll see/I'll hope!

Torchlight - played it (Fate too) Divine Divinity - same. Nox - I'd actually reinstalled that not too long ago. Kinda fun to revisit but it's not the same kind of action-rpg. Which is the problem...I've probably played most of the ones worth noting. I did look at some videos of that Deathspank game, it looked cute, but it's Steam only I think? Still...maybe, especially since FNV appears to be "finished" and I don't have to be super-picky about Steam auto-updating that one anymore. It'd be the 3rd game I'd purchase via Steam. hehe

(...someone else made it. It made me ROFL..)

I hope this isn't the only "improvement" Win8 will have, haha.

Little tired of Darkstone now but I'm still in the mood for some mindless, fast paced, hack n slash item/monster meta-gaming. Sadly I don't feel like re-playing Diablo1/2 or Dungeon Siege or Titan Quest. Need something else....

I had thought of making a joke about a bat and a ball...guess I wasn't too far off. ...Took a bunch of stuff to the dump/yardwork over the weekend & other such home-y stuff. Watching the Red Sox implode all month & thinking even if they make the wild card, they won't last long much after. Trying to keep up with daily exercise to keep the aging joints in shape, I'm terrible at keeping up with any exercise-for-sake-of-exercise regimen (and I don't play sports). Aerobics/gymnastics while watching TV seems to be about the only thing I do well with in that regard.

Electric pump definitely a must. The double-height (or whatever they call it) ones are more comfortable- that's what puts them higher off the floor. They're ones that look sort of like they have two mattresses on top of each other but it's really one unit. Don't get ones with built in "pillow" risers at one end, use your own pillows. Silly marketers. Ones that have shallower depressions on the top are more comfortable imo, some get carried away with those circular pits. But I do tend to prefer ones with some kind of depression design vs. the long rounded lines that look a bit like tubes (that are more akin to the cheap camping air mattress or pool flotation style). Perhaps something like this: Edit: non-circular depressions on top might be cool too. Never tried one but it looks flatter so I might like it more. (yes I'm even picky about an air mattress, Princess & the Pea haha). Add a 1"-2" foam mattress topper and you're good to go.

Me. Onboard sound always seems to give programs fits and errors at some point, I usually don't like the sound they produce & I guess I'm still a control freak. I always disable it in BIOS & plonk in a card. I've been kind of disappointed that it's moving away from independent cards so much. @Walsh - I've never liked RealTek for anything. Sometimes they're adequate technically (tho for me, often not...) but their support is definitely terrible.

*looks at the item packs* ...nah, don't need them. I might be interested in the Gun Runner's one, but mostly for the katana. Not because it makes much sense to have/use one in NV (imo) but because I just like Japanese swords, even in games. It can be a room decoration/screenshot pose item.

How in the world did that happen? ---------------------------------------------------------- Change of pace from spiders. I wish we had things like deer in our backyard. Sigh. (I leave things like cityscapes and portraits to other photographers.) Also, butterflies are fast. *clickclickdamnclickclickdamnclickclickdamn* ...I suppose I could make another photo thread but I know as soon as I did, I'd stop having anything to share.

After Bokishi's studmuffin graphic goodness, I shall now regale you all with a couple of 640x480 shots of Darkstone, blown up to 800x600.

Yeah, it was a slowish start this season...focusing more on character perhaps, with all the the Hank and Walt's wife stuff. It took 3-4 episodes to get going and even then it remains a bit more of a slow burn season. But it's building up and the last couple look to be pretty important chr/plot wise, in terms of Jessie/Walt/Gus. It's been interesting because Jessie is the opposite of Walt for me - not terribly likable at first but he's become a lot more interesting this season.

Hm, thanks for looking that up. I knew some did that but didn't realize most did. The line runs in the direction of the almost-every-day afternoon wind that we get here, so if he started from the left side and cast it out, it might have attached to the blackberry bushes if the wind was strong enough that day.

Item DLC's? I'll have to look them up to see if I'd want those too. I hope that's it...I wouldn't mind playing it again once in a while, I just became fed up with having to alter/redo all my own and downloaded mods so often. :D

Television: Breaking Bad's episode on Sun. was awesome. It's great to see more of Gus' world...and Jessie, where's his plot going? Going to be Gus' new right hand man when the other guy kicks the bucket? Used to be Gus wanted to get rid of Jessie & keep Walt, now it may be the other way around. I'd still like to see Walt's wife eat it tho...her sub-plots at this point are annoying, imo. (edit) Love the turn around of Walt's chr...from someone you can mostly sympathize with, to someone you love to hate.

Rick Astley, the 'rickroll' song. It's 80's, so I kinda like it...sue me.

Hubs sister's husband was out of work for multiple years, when his old job got rid of his dept. long time ago. He did PT/temp work here and there but one, he's on the older side and two, his career area/skills were a bit outdated (some kind of design engineer), so even w/some retraining it was difficult. When he finally got one, they had to move out of state. They kept the house they own here tho (they rent it out). ...as for me, I tell my morning tale in casual photos, as the orb weaver backyard takeover continues: What I'm wondering is how in the hell does the spider bridge this huge of a level gap (can't just jump downwards) to string it's upper web support line? ...but it loves this spot & keeps rebuilding the main oval every morning for days. Fun to watch cause it's so big. Different spider, where support lines have such tension they bend over a small branch. Yet another diff. one. Just liked the lighting/colors.