Tale

Word. At the Skorge fight currently. Sadly I'll be away a couple of weeks and won't see the rest until then. Ah, sucks for you, you're almost at the best part... but Skorge is a pretty awesome boss... Awesome boss. Maybe. Maybe. But that kind of implies, to me, that you get into some sort of "boss fight" with him. As opposed to some moderately interactive cutscene. Which is what I would more accurately call it.

I think design like that stems from two sources. 1) A lack of understanding that because you designed the level and played it a billion times you might know more than the average player will when they pick it up. So your experience is not the same they will have. 2) Nostalgia for Contra and Mega Man.

Beat Gears of War Saturday morning. Getting closer and closer to the end of Fallout 3. Kind of bored with that, so I'm glad Resistance 2 arrives today on my stoop.

There's a new standalone expansion out. I need to play it.

I despise encounter design that is either: 1) designed so that you have to play through it and die miserably several times before you can possibly come up with a strategy 2) so poorly playtested that only people who can beat it reliably are the people who've already played it a billion times I don't mind an encounter sending me to my death every once in a while. Even on normal difficulty. I do mind when it happens repeatedly and through no mistake of my own except that I simply haven't played this level enough to figure out the trick.

I upgraded blades (the spell) to level 2, now everyone dies in one hit. hah

Played a couple hours last night. It's not half bad, which is a sincere improvement over the previous one. I'm not constantly assailed by the same bad joke and the dialogue isn't quite as painful.

hmm, what other 4e augmentations are there in SoZ? will my gnome have a lair? No, but they do get a new racial power to summon a 1HP badger.

Sorry to hear that. I am sure you can secure work somewhere though. Have you considered doing non-gaming software? Sorry to hear what? I still have a job. For now, at least. I've considered non-gaming software. But, that's not really the same I would think. I anticipate that being much like any other 9-5 job. Lacking the atmosphere or pizazz of working in a game studio, among people passionate about games.

We're in crunch this week. I spent what little time I had to myself (the drive home, waiting to fall asleep, and the drive back) yesterday and today thinking... "I don't want this to end." That is to say I think I'll be looking for another job in video/computer game QA. The question is where? I now have to start giving consideration to the possibility of moving. Though we do have a couple of studios nearby. And one of them is supposedly looking.

Baldur's Gate 3! Baldur's Gate 3! Baldur's Gate 3!

They're probably tired of their forums being shat on. I can only imagine what might happen here if countless threads were sprung up over a single topic that always degenerated into arguments and flames.

I really enjoyed it. The game felt on the normal end in length for an action adventure game, but didn't provide much variety.

I never figured that out. I never much paid attention to whether or not I got a Paragon or Renegade points for it. But I am definitely noticing it in my second run.

The game was fun. Though, it only makes me even more against character romance threads. At least until they can do it right. It's either Ashley, the cheesy poetry quoting religious girl who feels the need to prove herself (she lost me at poetry), and who looks like a stroke victim (though everyone in the game has lazy eye, that just makes it more creepy) or tentacle haired girl with a baby face who is more socially awkward than Sand/Hades. Some of the dialogue was unintentionally hilarious. "Relax... EMBRACE ETERNITY" But the gameplay was tons of fun. The AI was slightly dissapointing. They have these interestingly laid out areas with traps and choke points, but the main tactic of enemies is to rush towards you, so you're rarely fighting beyond the front door. Though the mini-expansion was much better about that. The ending was undeniably awesome. And I look forward to the sequel. And now I get the joke: You're right. I'll stop him. Not if I can help it! That's some deep choice right there. The way the game treated your dialogue "choices" has me wondering if the different choices actually result in different responses 3/4 of the time.

yeah. according to wiki, it was "... widely recognized for pioneering immersive 3D graphics, networked multiplayer gaming on the PC platform, and support for custom expansions (WADs)." groundbreaking is an understatement, if anything. taks The Aliens TC was incredible. I also have fond memories of running around with Imps and zombie soldiers replaced with Beavis & Butthead and the Cacodemon replaced by Bill Clinton's head.

I think most adventuring companies and sellswords would welcome a grumpy general over some fop with a lute. ummm no, they would welcome a competent sword arm over incompetence. if your warlord is lvl 1, and the fop with the lute is lvl 5 and the mercenaries are all lvl 7+ who do you think they will take?? the correct answer is, most likely the bard, but they could take both. and the bab is the same for all classes in this edition, and the bard is the arcane leader so....... anyway the bard sings at the pc's funeral , and the warlord just says a few kind words..... id rather have the bard anyday, especially if they can still get spells and heal spells. I dare you to make less sense.

I want to be playing Clear Sky. But I'll settle for a second runthrough of Mass Effect.

Their free shipping option is rather good. They delay shipping often by only a couple of days and end up shipping it out of a shipping center much closer to me than than they would have with a faster option.

I don't know if it's been pointed out or not, but despite what was previously reported, Zehir is a Forgotten Realms god. Unlike the POL Zehir who is the Greater God patron of the Yuan-Ti, Forgotten Realms Zehir only holds a cult (and is a God, but not Greater) and his worship is forbidden by the Yuan-Ti (though some do it anyway).

Nobody here knew. I've only been here for like 5 weeks. I will say this. The people here are terrific. Everyone (management included, they're not to blame for this). And it's sad that so many of them will be losing their jobs. It doesn't really effect me personally as I'm a contractor and my employment was temporary, anyway. But, I can't say I didn't have fanciful notions in my head about trying to come back after this was over or sticking on a little longer.

That's your reaction to everything.

I love my Warlord. She wades into the thick of it, hoisting the others up and telling them to get back into the fray. "Get off the ground, soldier, and get back to the fight!" Has the feel of playing a squad leader in a war movie. I think most adventuring companies and sellswords would welcome a grumpy general over some fop with a lute.

Mass Effect Lots of fun.

Hey, Ensemble's in Dallas. Hey, the video game developer I went to work with is in Dallas, too! What a coinkeydink. No, I can't speak of this situation. There's rumor and speculation on my end, too.