Tale

I see way too many "original concepts" that are just retreads of the old concepts. Just now we have to learn new names for Orcs. And they are Orcs, you're not fooling anyone. Sort of like those Jedi that are new and original fanfic concepts where they use the darkside, but only for the greater good, never for evil. Haven't seen that one before and totally not tired of it. Also one eye is different colored than the other. They seem to be trying harder to distinguish themselves as different than actually do anything interesting. I won't level such an accusation at Mass Effect, though. It's not a fascinating setting in my eyes, but I'm just happy that they're not fighting with melee weapons.

Since my computer's still in the shop (just to change out a graphics card, ffs), I finished a playthrough of The Darkness that I'd put on hold. Then started up a replay of Batman: Arkham Asylum.

And as a Dward Noble (just a different kingdom). What? I'm pretty sure the Dwarf Noble cannot become king. I recall discussions on this on bioware social.

Serial polygamy is a form of polygamy. I'm not actually trying to contribute to this asinine discussion, I just want to see if that comment goes anywhere.

BUT IT'S THE SAME PHYSICS PUZZLE RAZLEFRAZMAGONAGLEBADINGDONGHATREDALLOFMYHATE

I love Half-Life 2. I just hate that god awful puzzle that first appeared in Sandtraps that they just can't stop repeating. They did it at least twice in Half-Life 2. And another time in Episode 2. STOP IT Or I swear to science that I will... do absolutely nothing different.

I dislike episode 2 with a passion. More of those "pick up item, move it, jump on it, pick up other item, move it, jump on it, repeat ad naseum" puzzles? CHECK Defense mission? OH GOD DOUBLE CHECK

Resume was just sent out. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

I've got to e-mail my resume to a friend later. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Apparently there was a hole in the channeled moat right over my stone farm. So I've got a flooded basement in my fort. If we last until winter, which we surely will, then I'll be able to plug it during the freeze.

How do you... oh, I see what you did there.

We have some Borderlands fans, eh? Interesting...

Of course it's been figured out. There's a jpeg and everything.

If used retailers respond to it by lowering used prices to reflect the new devaluation, I might start buying more used. What use do I have for multiplayer in half the games I play, anyway?

You can go back to Playthrough 1 and do them. I liked Dr. Ned's.

Reading City of Torment. It's the second book in Bruce R. Cordrell's Abolethic Sovereignty series. Not that exciting. I can't wait to finish it to start reading Equal Rites from Pratchett.

Did some Dwarf Fortress and the new Worms game. For Dwarf Fortress I'm working on building an above ground complex. Several z-levels above ground, in fact. I started by making a blueprint under ground. I realized I had a crappy embark, though. It was perfect in every sense except it was very hilly, which makes walling off the fort and building a moat a major hassle. I took it as a trial run because I realized my workshops connected to bedrooms plan had workshops blocking the entry to the bedrooms. That will be fixed in the next version. The new worms game isn't as fun as the old Scorched Earth game. But I am enjoying it. Needs funky bomb, though.

You don't seem to be a bad person so I'm going to just ask you politely to stop. The Portal memes got old years ago. We do what we must because we can.

Is it Tale on Krezack? That'd be hot.

But you don't get her to whip you or tell you to lick her boots, which seemed to be Oner's point. I believe that was hyperbole.

Pretty much every line of hers was fishing for compliments or flirting that if you reciprocated would end it right there.

BG2's was better. His Mage form is a pretty standup fight. If you've figured out how to beat any mage by that point, you can beat him. It's the same dispel protections and hope you survive whatever big crap he tosses your way. The demon form, or whatever you want to call it, I kind of hated. I usually only won that with summon cheese and by some of the enemies turning invisible, running away, and their AI glitching so they forget you exist.

The final bosses of BG 2.5 was impossible for me to fight. "My weapon has no effect." "My weapon has no effect." "My weapon has no effect." I've got only one character with a +5 weapon, everyone else had trouble finding better than +2. Holy christmas, Jaheira can't use anything better than a club or staff. There's like nothing better than +3 for either that I came across. Fighting that battle felt like the designers were calling me on the phone just to personally insult my mum. And half the enemies spawned by the boss resisted every spell that Edwin, Viconia, Jaheira, and Imoen threw at them. And the fight lasts as long as several boss fights with no resting, so those spells are never coming back anyway. Maybe I'm completely terrible, but the game makes no effort to teach you how to get around that crap. You have to search internet forums for cheese that you won't know unless you're already intimate with D&D 2e.

End boss fights in all three Baldur's Gate games are a sticking point for me. Mass Effect was much better in that regard, but it feels like a hassle to play through the first one at all.

NPC 1 is a first generation personality that has never learned adaptive traits The problems with emergent AI behavior is often from evolutionary psychological systems or at least learning, basically adaptive systems. Namely that videogames have none of that. The programmed behaviors persist until self-destruction unless the programming is enough to find an equilibrium with only what is started with.