Epaminondas

Does anyone know what the different tiers offer? It has Explorer, Noble, Royal, and Imperial and I can't really see the difference easily on steam and even going to dev page clicking on buy the game takes me to steam. It's kind of maddening that it's not easier to see what's in each package. Either that or I'm a little blind.

Oh, nice. Well, the game has enough interest that it's gone on 34 pages here. I'm considering buying it, but I doubt I can go through 34 pages, but that there's even that much says that some people are playing and excited enough by what they see to discuss it at length.

Anyone have a view on the new pathfinder game vs Star traders: Frontiers? I can't think of a AAA title that's calling out to me right now, although that might be that I haven't been looking much until now.

I thought Portal 2 was a great game, although I thought the original was a cleaner concept. I'm past the fire giant in Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. The combat sucks. I actually put it to easy. The reason is simple, I'm perfectly happy having the game be easy because all I really care about with this game is the story. That said, once you get the dodge/focus/sidestep thing going, combat isn't that hard. Merely tedious. I'm well on my way to the second boss. Really interesting, but combat sucks and that's a real downer. I miss run and gun FPSes of my youth. I'll have about 3 three weeks in December and January to play a game and I'm hoping they've finished polishing off Sunless Skies by then.

Hellbalde: Senua's Sacrifice. I'm only at the very start, but I can attest that the graphics are stunning. I've got everything cranked up to the max on it and it's breathtaking. Also, while I'm too old to get excited of pixels, I actually think the main character has an interesting face that's somehow weirdly appealing. The voices are an interesting touch. Having just got off my Mental Health rotation, I got a laugh out of the whole "we used psychotic people in our design" schtick. Still, the voices really are creepy. The gameplay so far gives me the feeling combat will be clunky, but this is clearly a story based game. I have hopes for something Tormentesque in its storytelling. We'll see. I'm just glad to have a few days to get into something. I'll probably have to put it on hold halfway through, but even if that happens, I'll finish it eventually. Last game I played was some sort of Edith Finch thing, but that was truly a walking sim and even the wife felt letdown by it. Not a bad concept, but just a little to boring in execution.

Not that I've had any time to play it, but the wife and I have played about an hour of Penumbra Overture over the past couple of weeks. I used to worry about studying all the time, but the wife has needed a little time to relax from live events lately and so I figure I can eek out a little time. Hopefully a little more soon. Not too bad, but I put it on easy so that we could focus on the story more than the terrible mechanics. A great Lovecraftian game.

Good God, I hope not! Anyhow, I have good news. This month sees my life getting back together. Last month, my father-in-law spent the whole time dying. It was a brutal experience. For years, I've been the guy who talked to doctors and whatnot for the family. Now that I've been in school, I literally did virtually all the talking with the health care folks. I could describe things as they happened. I didn't want to be pushy, but the staff soon figured out I had some sort of background and the doctor finally asked me what I did because I actually knew what was happening. Yep, I was really smart. Nothing like being smart enough to see the train coming while standing in the middle of the tunnel. All my smarts and acumen were of absolutely no help. The ending was obvious in the middle of the play. Didn't need to be a genius to see what was happening. Just a matter of letting it grind out in brutally inevitable fashion. On the first morning when things became set in stone, we get a call in the wee hours of the morning and go to the hospital because my father-in-law had ended up intubated in the ICU. While walking through the lot at 0330, my wife trips over construction materials and breaks her wrist. I spent the whole time that morning going back and forth between the ICU and ED. By the way, getting to see a closed reduction on a loved one's wrist... fun FUN FUN! Cool story, I sat with my wife and her respiration and heart rate spiked as the ketamine wore off. I held my wife's good hand and told her to breathe more slowly. "Breathe steady, my dear. It's good. Breathe with me." One of the health care folks behind me said to another, "living the dream!" He wasn't being facetious. Pretty emo, huh? piss off! So, when my wife went in for the open reduction and have a plate screwed into her radius, her dad finally gave up the fight and died. The hospital allowed her to stay in the recovery bed for a couple extra hours so I could go be with the family. Good times. At the end of last month, I was driving through the canyon to get back home after taking my wife to visit her family and I hit a burro. bwahahaha. Good Lord. I felt so terrible, but highway patrol thinks the burro actually lived, so I guess there's that. Car had to have several thousand dollars work, my wife still has bruises across her abdomen, and I missed mental health clinical the next day, but that's life for ya. Anyhow, I never missed an assignment, never missed an exam, and still managed to go down to Moreno Valley at least once a day and often twice. I fulfilled every familial and academic obligation. the beauty of my anonymity is that I can say this, brag a little, but I'm not bragging to people who know me anyway. When I was a kid, I pulled a tooth out of my head with the root still attached because I was afraid of going to the dentist. I tell you now, I would rather have done that every day again last month rather than live through May. Praise God, June is here and I have a feeling it's gonna a be a great month. It's gonna be great indeed!

Oh, God... This sounds like a harrowing couple of weeks. I'm so sorry. I hope things get better for you and your wife. Aw, I'm just being dramatic. Was a rough time, but now the old guy isn't suffering and my wife is on the mend. at least now I don't have to keep driving back and forth to Moreno Valley once or twice a day. Kept up with all my coursework, and maybe can get ahead of the curve again. Thanks for the kind words, brother.

Wife had open reduction to place a plate on her left radius. On the same floor, about 100 feet away, her father died. I had to rush between rooms. My wife is fine so far. My father in law of some 22 years, the man I met at 13 years old, is dead. This drama has played out since the end of last month.

Ha! I spared everyone my drunken ramblings. Last minute save!

I drink way too much, which is just simply wrong. I drink too much to put on airs about any of it. I have an affinity for Scotch, Irish, and rye, but I detest bourbon. It's just too sweet a lingering finish for me. Give me a smoky Scotch over an aged bourbon any day. On the other hand, I'll drink bourbon also in a pinch. :noncommittal shrug: So, I made this honey wine with blackberries recently. I had frozen some fresh whole ones, thinking of maybe using them in a secondary or something, but I decided to make blackberry margaritas for Cinco de Mayo. I bought up key limes, lemons, and (for a twist) tangerines. I got... Hornitos reposado? I wanted the Anejo but the wife wanted a lighter color. Anyhow it was cheap but good. I also picked up some Cointreau. I'm not much of a margarita fan, but it was good stuff. Probably too sour for a lot of folks, but I like sour, so all is good.

Yeah, I backed it also. I got an email recently. I need to read it, but I don't think it's released yet. I don't have interest in a beta. I want the finished version. On the other hand, I've waited this long, so it's not like I need to get disgruntled about it. It'll be done when it's done.

Yeah... I looked it up and that became apparent. I'm sure it's a fun game, but not what I'm looking for right now. I took up my old Long Dark Wintermute game and they added stuff. This Hank's Hatch stuff is new at least. Luckily I'd already killed the mean ol' bear. I'm tempted to start over again, but I think I'll wait until the next break. I will likely not play any computer games between Monday and the end of August. I might replay something I've already played.

I was going to take the wife somewhere for break, but the father-in-law has pneumonia and I ended coming down every day to help take care of him. Sigh I was hoping to go to Death Valley again, but no dice.

Is this winding down now? To steal from an old TV, this all reminds me of a foursome where the other three people bailed and you're left alone with a full bottle of baby lotion and an empty fifth of Scotch. The scotch is nice, and I guess the lotion has its own utility, but overall it's quite dissatisfying. Avellone will have to live through the pain and the rest of us will have to live through him living through his pain. At this point, it's become mental auto-eroticism. Of course, I'm there with everyone else slipping a hand under my belt because threads like this scream out for nerd outrage. I preloaded Deadfire. I'm a little blah about it right now, but certainly not because of Avellone's statements. Did he get screwed over? I hope not. I wish the best for the guy. Is Feargus either a supremely incompetent bungler or an evil family favoring mastermind? I'd attempt a joke about tuning in next week for another episode, but I don't really care. I want a good game. Give me that, and this controversy won't even be a blip in my radar.

I have but three nights left before I go back to the salt mines. I guess I'm going to play some Long Dark tonight, but I could really use a fun first person shooter. Now that Usuze mentioned Hearthstone, I'll have to see what that is.

I'm going to step in to make sure I sound like a complete and utter moron. Aw well, I believe what I'm saying at least. The thing is, the battle for decency is something for the long haul. You're only as good as you do, and that means being a decent person isn't something you do one time with one person. It's not how you feel about yourself. It's a habit. It's a practice. Right now it's about midnight where I live, and so I've indulged in adult type beverages in family size quantities, so please bear with me. The thing isn't to pretend that Avellone and company are perfect. Of course they're not. The thing is to forgive them for acting like human beings. Anyhow, I can go on for quite some time preaching, for which you could justly apply your boot to my ass. Anyhow, brother, I'm pushing 50 right now and I'm one of the most idealistic people I know. Not necessarily naïve, but certainly idealistic in that I figure I can't reach a perfect world, but that doesn't mean I can't fight for one. This stuff with the Obsidian people won't mean much to most of us in the long haul, but it sure seems like it's a source of lifetime angst for them now. I remember when Obsidian split off of BIS. I wonder what their younger selves would've thought about where it all stands at this moment in time...

yeah, this is a multi-partner cluster-**** where you don't know who's wearing protection and if anyone knows where all the parts are.

Wow! That is exactly how I got my cats as well. They must be soulmates. Almost all of my cats have been strays over the years, which means I get them at different times and ages. This time, I wanted cats who can get along, so I went to the pound in order to save a kitty at the same time we got Duseren. It worked beautifully and they pal around together very well. ...And I'm sure they'd be honored to be in the august company of your fell beasts! :faint smile with one raised eyebrow:

Okay, now I'm all caught up. Well... I read the nine posts on the last page. I disagree about art. Avellone was a great writer for the person I was when I played PS:T Even now, some of the scenes hold up very well as literature in and of themselves. Certainly, in critical terms, he had plenty of room for improvement, but I think he was honing his art well enough at the time. Art should never be limited by the medium. If I ran across Shylock's speech on youtube, it would be still convey the greatness of the writer just as much as if I read it in a book, watch it on the silver screen, or see it played out on stage. No, the problem isn't that Avellone didn't have skills. After PS:T, it seemed to me that he never rose again to the occasion. Some specific passages over the years were impressive, but mostly I thought they were by and large hard to recall after I'd read through them once. If I'm not mistaken, he wrote for the old crone in KotORII, which made me laugh in a way I'm sure was not intentional. That doesn't mean I can't enjoy what PS:T gave me as a much younger gamer. I wish I could play it for the first time all over again, even with my admittedly older and much more jaded eye. In the same way, I won't let what amounts to muckraking as regards his former colleagues and employees change my appreciation for the things he's done well. I do completely agree that it makes him look bad, but I prefer to think maybe he's just genuinely embittered and feels aggrieved. I prefer that because it's not quite so grievous a sin as intentionally trying to **** over an entire group for, as others have noted above, a beef with a small handful of people at the top. This is going to sound like I'm trying to be clever (and failing), but the expression for which I was searching is that this is his fall from grace. Even though it's a bad pun, it does convey something of the irony I see in the situation. Assuming he wrote the FFG character.

Finished Kona just right now. It shaped up pretty nicely. I played it while it was in development and I thought it was rough but good. Then I shelved it until after they finished it and I had a pretty good time. Not really hardcore, but that's just fine. The voice acting is great. The voice sounds familiar, but it was expressive, clever, and often very witty in a dry humor sort of way. Perfect for me. There wasn't a lot of combat and the tiny bit there was ended up being very easy, so no challenge there. It was mostly an exploration/puzzle game and since I was okay with the writing and the atmosphere was good I ended up being happy. Oh, and the wife and I just finished layers of fear tonight. it wasn't really scary, but it was creepy. I know there are two other endings, but we got the grand artist one. I figure we could do things differently and get good husband one, but I doubt we ever get the third one where you just run through the game.

Hey, Katphood, your little black kitty looks a lot like my little black kitty. I have Duseren and Morwenna. Duseren was a kitten one of our friends had to give away, but I saved wee Morwenna, the little grey beast, from the pound. Talking about cats is so much better than dwelling on urine.

I'm not quite so harsh in my judgment. lol I'm about ready to pass out at my keyboard, but I agree with Trueneutral on this. He probably has some legitimate beefs as to what went down. I know, from my own (albeit less dramatic (probably)) experience, sometimes these things burn you. It doesn't matter. I don't want to put down Avellone. I want to think the best of him. Maybe it's impossible to live up to the standard, but Obsidian has remained above the fray and Avellone has jumped down into the pits. There's something noble about being willing to fight to get your point of view across to people. There's something even nobler about not trashing a former employer or employee. He was one of the co-founders of the company and he would always have that. His trashing them doesn't lift his spirit. Even if Obsidian sucks, trashing them will never change what happened but giving bad press just prior to release will change the Avellone in the public's eyes. If Avellone puts out some great chef douerve in the future, it will forever be contextualized by this controversy. I'm not speaking out because I think we should put down Avellone. I believe he's already done that himself. I want to celebrate his contributions. We're waiting, Chris. We know you have it in you to come through for us. Don't dwell on past hurts. Create something new and it won't matter whether Obsidian screwed you or not.

I haven't read all of this thread, but I remember a thread a while back while I was lurking that detailed alleged comments by Avellone. Like a lot of people here, I came to CRPG age in Planescape. I still love the game by which I mean it figures as prominently in my life as any book or movie I've ever seen. What I remember of Mr. Avellone's behavior from the previous thread disappoints me. He's a human being and we can't enjoy his skills without accepting his flaws, but it just seems... small for him to keep a bitter heart over what's happened. I think his petty carping over Obsidian doesn't serve him well, and that's from someone who has mixed feelings about Obsidian as a developer. I can't complain about them and I simply won't but that's out of what is undoubtedly misplaced loyalty. Obsidian has provided hours upon hours of entertainment and I see in them such great potential to do even more. That's not really the issue, however. I think Avellone's behavior, at least in the previous discussions I've seen, diminish him. It's not because I think it hurts Obsidian or would even care if internal disputes hurt them in the first place. It's because it's simply devoid of class in a situation where he inevitably appears as nothing more than a disgruntled former employee when we all know he was so much more. On the other hand, none of this will detract from my love of the things either Avellone or Obsidian have given me as a gamer. The entertainer is as noble in society as a doctor, priest, or lawyer. In some cases, more. On the third hand, It's late here and my capacity for cogent thought isn't what it should be. If there are angry rejoinders, or any response at all, I'll have to read it tomorrow, assuming I remember making this post.

I'm pretty far in Kona. My father-in-law ended up with pneumonia. At 87, that's bad news. I forced him to go to urgent care because he refused to go to the emergency room. Urgent care sent him by ambulance to the Emergency room. I've spent a good portion of my precious break going back and forth to where he lives to take care of him, so I haven't finished Kona, but I think I'm getting close. The finished product is actually pretty cool. Like a Long Dark that doesn't kill you with relentless alacrity and regularity.