Raithe

I think you have to take it that the choices and consequences matter in regards to the path you journey on, rather then whether it means a win or lose ending. The way consequences and reactions happen to things you do and choices you make effect the pathway, and that is something that's good to at least see an attempt made at in a game. Even if they don't have a direct in-game consequence, actually having something refer to it later makes it a more involving universe. As Hurl says, even a simple email can improve a certain sense of immersion in what you've done and where you're going.

I did catch an interesting article on Yoga from one of the big Yoga Instructor's in New York over how people aren't aware how much damage they can do to themselves with Yoga. Heh, he even pointed out how silly it can be that some renowned Yoga instructors have done so much damage to various joints they have hip replacements and teach their classes while laid out because they're unable to actually "lead" the routines they take the classes through. On the not so related note, I woke up from weird dreams with an aching neck and a mysterious small cut on one of my fingers. Hazy dreams, involving some massive undercover sting operation in Germany..that for some reason had Roman Legionaires involved, and kept flickering from "real world" style look to 8 bit 2d graphics. Very..disconcerting.

On a certain level, I can see the partial reason for the way it's set up. On both Tattooine and Alderaan the Imperial and Republic starports are on pretty much the opposite sides of the world maps. And the world quests don't really send you into each other's territory for the most part. And if a player is only interested in PvE, they can focus on the questing without really worrying on opposing players interfering. But if you do , you can easily wander up to those areas. On Tattooine, the Jundland is way big and you tend to have the Imperial missions in the south and the Republic ones in the North - There is that small section of the map thats a "Black Market / Smuggler's Haven" that automatically sets everyone entering it into PvP. However, when you reach the Dune Sea, there are a few quests that overlap on both sides. Notably, finding that hidden Czerka base. So you can easily run into each side, just not in an automatic PvP situation. With Alderaan, the Republic is in the South, and the Imperials are to the North - again, most world/class quests keep you out of each other's territory until you reach the end stages and the west side of the world map, where the False King's Palace is is pretty much shared by both sides for questing. But think about it, you've got a maximum of around 200 players of each side to any world instance, so 400 total. The majority of the time, unless you're on Fleet the numbers seem to bounce between 40-140 players of a faction on any world instance that I've been on. Which is spread across the levels, all running around doing their class quests, the heroic quests and the assorted world quests, bonus series and wotnot.. On what are usually, fairly wide maps. Unless you go out looking, it's not surprising you don't run into a lot of other players. I mean, the way the stories seem to go, is that your character is this ultra heroic, pretty much nexus point for how things are shaping for either side. No matter how many other players you run into, it's your efforts that shape whats going on, or tearing down what the other side is doing. - Which is kind of entertaining when you realise you're encountering s omething you set into motion when you played a character on the other side - But even when grouping for flashpoints and heroics, the story doesn't really want you to recognise that the other people in the party are just as ultra-heroic/influential as you are.

Hm, I know my SI did run into various player Republic characters on tattooine, seen them in passing, especially around the Sand People canyon area.. In fact I got partially disrupted by one git because I'd just been in a Heroic quest and buffed someone who had their PvP flag set, which automatically makes you PvP - I'd forgotten about it, and carried on questing, and just as I was trying to deal with some Sand People this git of a Jedi jumped me out of nowhere when I was in mid PVE fight and down to about 30% health. And I did run into Republic players when I was Sith on Alderaan. Possibly helped by the fact that during my exploration phase I went at high speed into the Organa Palace area without realising it..

Congratz I have to admit, although Alderaan looks pretty, and is kind of enjoyable to randomly explore for a bit.. (from the Imperial side) they didn't have any really outstanding storylines in the quests that pulled me along. Maybe it's because I was a Sith Inquisitor, and when I landed on a world that was all "noble houses, politicals, betraysl and intrigue" I thought I'd really have a chance to shine in that arena... but just didn't really get that feel. There were some moments of fun, and the actual class story was okay with some good moments, but just..failed to really sink into taking advantage of everything.

So Bioware announce they sold 2 million copies and have 1.7 million active subscribers at present.. http://www.askajedi.com/2012/02/01/1-7-million-active-subscribers-growing-ea-earnings-call/ Now it's just to see how long it lasts..

I don't know, I've hit 50 with one class, and still having fun playing through another class. I have to say I'm interested in looking at some of the others as well.

She was one of the original "girl gamer geeks" who hit it off as a game journalist type, especially the whole "pretty gamer girl geek" area. I think it was internet-celebrity from a picture of her licking her sony psp control that went viral, and from there she's ended up as an IGN staff writer, journalist, on-camera host type of thing. About oh, 7 years or so ago. Helped kick off the awareness that cute girls do game and are willing to admit it..

That is the wrap up class-quest on Tattooine.. So I still have to wander onto Alderaan yet... And yeah, I'd been using stims, medpacks, and the heroic "need active companion" ability as well..

Well I managed to wrap up the "Lightspring" quest for the smuggler. I have to admit , I loved the whole setup for it - I mean, you're tracking down a crime lord to talk to , and finally trail him to this hidden base, where you find a jedi and sith turn up for something the guy has in his "treasure hoard". But then it got a bit eh, off-the wall. The Sith is played up as a rather femme fatale type, while the Jedi has that "uber-naivette" approach of someone raised by robots with no contact with actual humanity... When the battle starts, you get the option to pretty much ally with either the Jedi or the Sith, and then of course the Crimelord is infuriated and wants everyone dead. And he spams healing on himself. Really ridiculous amount of spam-healing. The trick I finally realised was that if you ally with the Jedi, she does one of those force lifts on the Fat-man, and then engages the Sith. But she has minimal threat. So you have to turn off all companion threat generation and area effect activities, then focus them on the Fat-man while he's locked up. Focus on him until he's dead, then finally you can turn on the Sith. If you don't, the merest, slightest hint of threat-generation causes them to turn on you and take you out in a very short space of time. Seriously, the mission level is set at 27, and they were kicking my ass when I was 31, my companion was dead in under a minute, and I joined him in just a little over.. Until I figured that trick out, I was beginning to get very irritated.

And for those who might have missed it.. The Mass Effect 3 Voice Cast Reveal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfvo5ueKJY8 And I have to admit, I didn't realise Jessica Chobot was having her first in-game experience here..

Seem to have spent a large amount of time today trying to get through to people on the phone.. Only to have them never in their office when i ring. Joy. That and refining my google-fu skills, and trying to delve into certain aspects of maritime law and requirements/regulations of entrance into port for a research project doohickie.. We're having a major drop in temperature, so post christmas and suddenly it's white mornings with frosted grass.. and the potential for snow. The good thing is, that sort of cold means the dogs aren't tracking mud in from the garden...

I think there are some schematic drops happen as well. Heh, after all, you need Artifice schematic drops from a world boss to be able to make the Magenta Crystal ... But yes, pretty much most of it seems to be via reverse engineering. A few worlds have vendors which have a handful of extra recipes/schematics at a few different levels as well... but I can't remember which they were when i found them.. I really never got around to using Artifice with my SI>

My smuggler has no crafting skills, but picks things up with slicing, scavenging and underworld trading.. Waiting until I have a small horde of resources to dump on the trade network nets me a nice return of cash. As long as I don't mind waiting those hours rather then get immidiately... Also, don't forget the small cash bonuses you get for doing the Starship missions if you want a break from the other side of things..

Meh. Been wandering Tattooine with my smuggler.. and stalled on a class mission. Even though I'm a couple of levels above what is needed, the bad guys are still kicking my ass. And it's an annoying instance where you get kicked out of it when you die..so you have to start alll the way back at the beginning each time. Take out the droids..then end up in what's basically a three way battle between a jedi, a sith, and a crime lord.. Then on my 5th attempt, things are starting to go my way.... and the game crashes out. I'm trying to decide whether I should hop back on the horse to make one last try tonight..or give it up and get some sleep...

Hm, from what I've seen it looks like the same amount it would anyways, so the XP it would have given to you just goes to waste. No, normally you get legacy xp thats a percentage value of the actual xp earned. Once you hit 50, it is exactly the actual xp, just converted directly into legacy xp, not just a fraction.

I think one of the minor disapointments I've found, is that once you get past that first flashpoint (the Esseles / Black Talon split) the flashpoints are exactly the same whether you're Republic or Empire.. I mean, okay, some of the dialogue within change, but even that's pretty much just switching a few references around more then anything else. I know they've put a lot of resources in other things, and I'm glad the PvE side is so well done in general, but it does feel as if they've taken a bit of a shortcut with them by doing that. I mean, Esseles and Black Talon show just how well done they can be. They actually branch out slightly differently depending on choices you make, there's a lot of story to them, and you can get invested in whats going on. And those are the ones you get shown first. So to go from that, to pretty straight "dungeon slogs" - even if some do have great atmosphere - does seem a bit of a downer. On another point, the smuggler does get an awful lot of amusing flirt options. And I have to say, I have a lot of appreciation for 'Sweeping Gunfire'....

For all the important things in life..

Hm, having a little bit of a lock up on my creative juices today.. So trying to keep poking at my mind to shake something loose in a more cogitant manner.... Although cat's been taken off to the vet's to be doped up and have some issues with his fur dealt with. Long haired persians can be a bit murderous to deal with.

Okay, I have to wonder whether this is serious or not.. If it is, that could be...interesting.

I did give the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning demo a short try last night. Felt a little off to begin with, but smoothed out as I pushed along with it.

Don't worry, I'm going to be playing it on and off for at least 6 months... Edit: I went with Artifice, Archaeology and Treasure Hunting for my SI... and for some reason I just never developed Artifice any.. and now I'm 50th level, with about 23 ranks in Artifice, and about 8 basic schematics... and only about 2 of them are red crystal ones...