Raithe

The awkward bit is that the dlc of Leviathan does flesh out a whole chunk of stuff about the reapers and what turns up with the Crucible and such later in the endgame. It does kind of beg the question of why they designed it like that.

Just having a minor bash at ME3 again. Re-ran the Thessia mission. I have to say, whilst there are all sorts of bits about it to like (the reveal of Asari secrets, the handling of Asari sacrificing to help you and such like), it still really bugs the living hell out of me the way they handle the ending of it. One pseudo-boss fight that you totally kick his ass, until a gunship drops missiles and blows the floor out from under you.. and then you get crowing emails from the boss about how He beat you. And you don't even get an option to yell at the Asari over hiding things until the last minute. All that frustration and grrr, and all Shephard does is go totally angsty over how he lost the mission.

That depends how far you are into "Joss-Whedon-Is-God" perspective.. He's put in a fair few in-jokes and nods to fans if you're that aware of the history, and frankly the sequence between Hulk and Loki could almost make the entire movie worthwhile on its own. It's got a couple of chuckle out loud moments spun in it, Scarlett Johanssen in a bodysuit (if you enjoy that, which a lot of folks do), Chris Hemsworth & Chris Evans flexing biceps and pecks (for the other side of the crowd's enjoyment), Robert Downey Jnr providing a few snerkworthy lines of dialogue, Mark Ruffalo performs a low-key but nerded out philosophical Bruce Banner... It's hard to really provide much focus on any specific character in that sort of large gathering, but Whedon managed to balance it all fairly well. You get about a quarter of the film spent in set up and gathering the group, half the film of them interacting and annoying each other to various degrees with villain plotting along, and then the final quarter of big battle when they've figured things out. It was entertaining to watch and most people I know who've seen it felt the same way.

Well I'm having a few days break after having completed the Jedi Knights storyline and gotten my companion conversations all done. The Emperor's Force Blasts in that battle were a total surprise the first time I tried it. I mean, c'mon. 20,080 hp damage with a single attack? Once I got back in, I really kept an eye out to interrupt that attack when he tried it.. Plus the minor annoyance of being caught out with T7 as a companion (the only one you can have for that particular mission) with no warning, so all of his equipment was completely out of date where I haven't been using him.. Still, it was an entertaining finish, and leaves tht slight question of whether the Emperor is actually dead and gone or just.. force ghosting somewhere ready to do something nasty... Once I've had the break, I'll get back to my Sith Juggernaut and wrap up Chapter 2.. Hm, and potentially do some more with the Jedi Consular I've left at 10th level for awhile... That leaves me the Republic Trooper and Imperial Agent to give a go as well at some point in the future.

I think folks are forgetting one of the primary reasons behind the backstab originally. The Rogue could only backstab when he was in stealth, and wasn't detected by the target. Which was also why the Fighter didn't get to do so. It wasn't about flanking someone, that's totally seperate and anyone can do so. The reason for the backstab critical was that it was a> unexpected b> stealthy Rogue could take his time ensuring the perfect aim and strike for the attack. A fighter's attack's are more for the frenetic, in the middle of combat blows. Not because he could disapear into shadows, sidle around and then strike without the target being aware of him..

Heh, found out that a 7 page "paper" I wrote/doodled last year on combining Scrumm with OSS (Operation System Shock - a method of modelling & analysis) apparently turned up at multi-million pound defence company, and is apparently being cited on something they're doing. So I'm occasionally bringing up that warm glow feeling from that to fight off the wearyness as autumn falls along... Achieved very little so far today. About to do a complete empty/clean of the cats litter tray, but let myself be distracted on a bunch of warhammer 40k reading when I started following links on the lexicanum....

Slice up several bananas (the short way, so lots of diced banana).. Take one pyrex bowl and build a layer of banana slices - add sultanas, sprinkle cinnamon, dark sugar, add a splash of cream and rum / brandy (your choice). Then repeat, building layers until you've used all the banana. Put in the microwave for about 1 minute (maybe 2) depending on just how much you used.. If the banana has all melted, you heated it too much.. But if you get it just before that, it's perfect.

Wrapped up my Jedi Knight's storyline on TOR last night.. Kind of interesting to raid Dromund Kaas and take on the Emperor directly. Although they leave a couple of potential storyhooks hanging, so I guess they're the groundwork for potential future expansion of the game beyond the end "interlude". Key things to note for folks playing Jedi Knights who haven't reached there yet.. 1> For various story-reasons, you end up with T7 as your only companion for that section. With no warning. Which means if you're like me, you likely find that all his companion gear is still around 28-32 and he gets stomped on a lot during... So pay attention and improve his gear before trying to take on the mission. 2> They do have a rather annoying element, in that the Emperor has an attack "Force Blast" that cheerfully does in excess of 20,000 damage with one blast. So unless you know what you're doing, you have no clue to interrupt that specific ability when you see him start to use it. For the somewhat amusing, if you complete Lord Scourge's companion conversations, he does this really nice chat about how he feels it's such a shame that someone with my power wasn't raised by the Sith where I could have taken lordship and dominion. As such, he feels it would be a total crime against the universe if any children I have are not raised according to Sith principles. So he makes the kindly offer that he will keep an eye on me for them, just to make sure they have the proper opportunities to grow and gain control of the galaxy... The nice response of "Um.. thank you in a..that is very creepy sort of way"

Judge Dredd. They handled it quite nicely, Karl Urban makes a good Dredd and the whole "Anderson's Rookie Day" was a good nod to the comics.

Oblivion also felt pretty soul-less. It was technically impressive, but actual gamewise it just sucked the joy and life right out of me. Skyrim actually had more atmosphere that engaged you in what was going on.

I enjoyed The Postman. It's interesting how they varied some of it from the book it was based on, but it was still a fairly decent attempt.

In the immortal words of W.C Fields.. “Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer.”

I keep thinking of the trial in Kotor on Manaan, and the trial in NWN2... (although the latter does end up in combat). But the steps you take, having different preperations/people you talk to and investigate shaping how the big trial goes.. Shaping up your conversation options, and whether various NPC's will take part, or what they'll end up saying. Having all of that come together to provide different results and consequences. Having a few moments like that would be rather damn good.

Well the Director was a huge fan, and had control of the advertising for it. But in his extreme fandom, he thought John Carter of Mars was as familiar a name as Batman in the households of the world.. Thus, resulting in pretty much one of the worst advertising campaigns for a potential summer blockbuster that pretty much left people confused and blase about going to see the movie.

Heh, frankly with what they've said already I'd pledge more if I had the budget. As it is, I'm hoping a work related project gets picked up in the next 20 days and that would give me the freedom to throw more cash into the pool...

Well 1.4 is up and running. Only had a brief run around tonight tho. Had all my skills refunded for Sith Inquisitor and Bounty Hunter.. so the fun of picking them all again after the fiddling they've done. Although woot, Now Bounty Hunters get an interrupt power. And the companion "unify colour" works nicely to alleviate some of the total glare of mixed up outfits..

Could argue you're better off this way. Hey, give some love to Alpha Centauri.. and the Alien Crossfire expansion...

I went to idle some time on Alpha Centauri.. and found that I've misplaced my Alien Crossfire disk somewhere... I shall have to conduct a comprehensive search for it....

Hm, interesting. I took it as a generally light hearted thing. I didn't see anything s&m related to it... I guess eye of the beholder and all that.

I actually managed to watch Yojimbo on the big screen a couple of years back. One of the local "artsy" cinemas ran a season of foreign films and they did a whole bunch of Akira Kurosawa...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDajL441mZc

Not so much of late. The cinemas charge around £9 for a basic adult ticket nowadays. So about $15. Add ridiculously overcharged popcorn/drinks... Throw in a summer of really good weather, and most folks have been staying out rather then going in places like the cinema.

RTDM works a hellava lot better when you have a physical copy you can also look at and reference again when you're actually playing the game. PDF only manuals can be a pain if you have to keep flipping out of a game to chase up how you do something potentially fiddly, or just because you forget one specific thing... If I'm playing a "serious" game, I am not going to run it in windowed mode just so I can keep poking at other stuff.. I don't know, if you can fit in a tutorial like aspect like the beginning of Kotor 2. It had a story sense for what was happening, and for guiding the player around and giving you the basics without npcs looking like they're just there to tell you how to do stuff. But you have the option of skipping it and proceeding to the real start point of the story and it still made sense.