BruceVC

I moved from Cyprus to Greece and then locked myself in the basement playing Anno 2070 Metro 2033 is a book by Dmitry Glukhovsky. I heard god things about both book and the game that was based on it, so I read the book. I did not like it. At all. The setting allows for great exploration of society and human nature, as like minded individuals flock to specific metro stations and create their post apocalyptic micro-societies. But while the world and politics of the various stations is fascinating in and by itself, which could have made for a fantastic series of books (or TV series or movie or whatever) even without the supernatural aspect, it is given no depth at all. Instead, the character stumbles from encounter to encounter, like Hercules or Xena in certain tv series stumbled from episode to episode. To make matters worse, with the supernatural aspect, the character does not even need to get out of the encounters through his own effort, as the main plot takes care of everything. While this works well for a computer game, where atmosphere is key. The book is (in my not really all that humble opinion) ruined by it. Okay thanks for the information around the book, I'll definitely skip that one

Shame the book was such a let down. Great setting with fantastic potential turned into... meh... something... meh Hi Melk Where have you been? What do you mean by the book?

Come now Hurlshot you are being a little disingenuous when you imply you don't have any activities that are considered dangerous? What about PC gaming and the stress factor that comes with that, I'm sure you can understand insurance companies wanting to increase your premiums. You do realize how much a broken fingernail caused by slamming hard on that keyboard can harm your overall health?

Yum that sounds delicious

I just finished Metro 2033, I have to say its the best post-apocalyptic game I have ever played. I know its not an RPG so I suppose its unfair to compare it to Fallout 3, F:NV or Stalker (and I loved those games) but the way the world is presented as so unforgiving and brutal makes it absolutely gripping. As I mentioned before in this game just finding a few bullets is like finding gold at the end of the rainbow. I really recommend this game to anyone who wants an enjoyable but tough action game experience.

Guys excellent news, it looks like Witcher 3 is not only in development but should be announced in the next 6 months. I am not sure if that means it will be released then or just confirmed ? Yaaaaaaaaay http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=507025

One of my favorite Turn-Based Adventure/Tactics mix. Great atmosphere, good story, very satisfying combat, cool companions. Go get it on GoG. One of my favorite Turn-Based Adventure/Tactics mix. Great atmosphere, good story, very satisfying combat, cool companions. Go get it on GoG. Gorki and Incubation with Wilderness missions are great games. There was a similar game too which i forgot its name. We were defending some lunar/martian base which was attacked by aliens... It had 2d graphics. Edit: I also have a soft spot for X-Com Aftermath.liked it a lot than previous games and played it for a good time! Hopefully we are some incoming turn-based games coming in 2013-14 Thanks guys, they do sound good. I may just go to GOG and add Gorki to my large list of games

I watched an interesting discussion on CNN during State of the Union where it explained that Obama will be nominating Chuck Nagel as the next USA Secretary of Defense. http://www.theblaze....tary-next-week/ Anyway most of the Republicans are vociferously opposed to Nagel being nominated for a variety of reasons, the main one being that apparently he is anti-Israel. The Republican senator Lindsey Graham said in the same interview that "Nagel has been hostile to a good friend to the USA, Israel" It got me thinking, what has Israel actually done for the USA that makes it such a good friend for some? I am not being facetious and I am genuinely interested. I can understand the UK and USA friendship due to the past 2 World Wars and others conflicts but I don't quite get the USA\Israel friendship, apart from the money from the Jewish lobbyists ?

Nep, do you want me to talk to her. I'll explain to her that you are a nice and decent guy?

Sorry to ask but what do you mean by light therapy and how is that related to your sleeping times? I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, also known as winter depression.Light therapy involves an easy to follow,but strict regimen of Staring into a bright light (10.000 lux) every day in the morning at the same time (9.am for me) for 30 minutes. This is supposed to simulate sunlight, and helps wake you up Also required is that you have breakfast prior to sitting in front of the lamp. You must have three meals a day. at regular times. and you must go to bed on time. lastly you must turn off all bright light sources an hour before sleeping. All of these things are intended to reset your biorhythms. I suffer from ADHD, which means I'm also less sensitive in changes in light(long story, got to do with melatonin production cycles in the brain), which in turn means I adapt my rhythm too slow, which makes me more vulnerable to SAD. Usually you do this end-September beginning of October. Which I did. but anyone thnking I'm keeping my rhythm during the Holidays must think I have no social life. So, after the holidays are over, I usually do it again. To me the difference is between having suicidal thoughts and being happy, which is quite significant. Wow, thats really fascinating, I can imagine you need to stick to your routine so for an outsider it may seem extreme but the positive effects really are worth it as you explained. I had never heard of it before. Thanks for the post

Sorry to ask but what do you mean by light therapy and how is that related to your sleeping times? Could be an anti-depressant exercise? How is South Africa and Johannesburg these days? I've got colleagues past and present from Pretoria and Cape Town, but none from Johannesburg. Not that SA is an obvious tourist destination if my colleagues are anything to go by. I think they left so fast you can still see the motion blur in the air, too much violent crime at the time for their liking (which may or may not have changed the last decade) Personally I think JHB is the greatest city in Africa, okay I'm a little biased . I am including Pretoria as part of JHB in my answer below as its only 40 minutes from JHB and we often go there. JHB is the economic and business hub of South Africa, so there are important historical places to visit from a tourist perspective. Like the Apartheid Museum and tours of Soweto where Nelson Mandela lived. We also have the most musics events and general fun things to do on the weekends. For example we have food and lifestyle shows every weekend so you are spoilt for choice. JHB also has game parks within 20 minutes of it. Its very convenient when people visit as I can take them to the Lion and Rhino park for the day without having to spend the night which adds complication if you have limited time. Of course JHB doesn't have the beaches or Wine Farms of places like Cape Town. So in fairness I do think that any tourist needs to spend the majority of there time in a place like Cape Town as I consider it the ultimate tourist destination. And the level of crime is a concern but its manageable, you do have a high level of crime compared to places like Oz but you just follow the normal rules in other large cities and you will be fine. Almost all people who live in South Africa believe in the future of the country. The people that don't have generally immigrated. We do have our political challengers where people talk about nationalizing the mines and other businesses but our Constitution prevents this so its just rhetoric. So end of the day I think its fantastic living here, we are a hybrid country of first and third world where every day is exciting and offers something different. You should come visit

I agree, personally I see many games I am excited about. The main ones for me are Wasteland 2, DA3, Eschalon 3, Amnesia and Divinity.

Sorry to ask but what do you mean by light therapy and how is that related to your sleeping times?

Last night my 2 brothers came up from the coast with there g-friends to stay with me. They are going skiing in Austria and today they were catching the necessary international flight. We had a really good time and it was great to see them as they never come to Johannesburg. We got pizza, smoked some weed and watched a variety of humorous movies.

This, buy ME3. Its entertaining and does bring some level of finality to the whole epic.

Gorky 21? YEEEEESSSS!!! You are not the first person to express excitement about this so now I am really interested . What was good about the first one as I have never heard of it until now?

http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/01/01/2013-preview/ Now this is an interesting article, a really comprehensive list of games for 2013 . There are some good ones on the way, 2013 is looking faaaaaaaaantastic. There are some titles I have never even heard of but that only adds to the excitement.

Yeah its a cool feature. For me it was always there when I became active on these forums since the start of the PE Kickstarter campaign.

I watched the Life of Pi in 3D on Friday. Amazing movie, highly recommended. The storm scene must be the most realistic scene I have ever seen for a storm. You felt like you were really on the ship.

Cant has always been a somewhat sporadic guest around here, ever since the "Eldar" days. He popped up for the first time in quite a while when P:E was announced, and posted regularly for a bit, but it seems like he's drifted away again. While he's gone, we just console ourselves with the fact that all the other posters here are his alt accounts. Aaaah okay. Thanks Enoch, so we should see him pop up later

I'm telling you what I prefer. I do not find random trash encounters in any way interesting or worthy of my time, regardless of how well implemented they are, and several games have implemented them very well. I adore SoZ, and I still do not find random encounters worthy or remotely interesting, let alone rewarding from a gameplay perspective. I can live with them, don't get me wrong, it's not the end of the world, and I don't despise them, they're just . . . forgetable and unworthy of note, even at their best. Telling me I can have both seems silly. I know I can have both. I'm sorry, I didn't realize you realized we could have both. The last thing I would want to post is a comment about encounters in PE that you already were aware of that would make me sound silly. I just wanted to make sure you knew we could have both, but as you mentioned you already knew this. So my comment is moot, I hope I didn't sound too silly. I'm just teasing I get your point.

But you can have both, there will be certain predefined encounters but when you travel overland to different places certain creatures specific to the area may attack. This is the more random event.

I voted for NWN2 Storm of Zehir, I was one of those who also enjoyed hthe I agree. I enjoyed the Storm of Zehir map and I also voted for that. I remember running from dinosaurs in the jungle

Interesting. I can imagine people wanting something like that, but for me unless a game is a direct sequel then I never try to compare it to other similar genres. I judge it for what it offers on its own.

For myself, it was coming to terms with the realization that I do not have absolute control over my thoughts (a concept which may scare some people). For example, if I tell you to not think about pink elephants, there's a significantly greater chance you'll think about pink elephants than had I not told you that. For my own personal issues, I was directed to something called "Acceptance Commitment Therapy" (ACT) and it came in pretty useful in dealing with my thoughts that dwell on the past. An example in a book a read pointed out how people with anxiety disorders get caught in negative feedback loops because they are so anxious about having an anxiety attack in public, that they make it more likely to actually have an anxiety attack. Avoidance techniques (like not going to events one wants to go to out of fear of having an anxiety attack) actually reinforce the strength of the fear. People become frustrated because increasingly so, the fear of anxiety starts to control their lives, and they dwell on the thoughts of their anxiety which only gives it more and more strength. Part of the process for myself, was to realize that it's okay if my mind wanders to an event (real or imagined) with the people that scorned me in the past, and to realize it's part of being human and that I shouldn't let it bother me. It's easier said than done, but the book had a lot of interesting exercises to help me understand what it was that my brain was doing, and how developing techniques to convince myself that it's okay if this happens will, ironically, have it happen less. It might be easier for me because "the one that got away" ended up becoming "The one that utterly betrayed me and took advantage of me." Until the apex of the crap, however, it was tough for me to realize she was taking advantage of me. Even in the immediate aftermath, I was more concerned with the decisions she was making than my own well being. Fortunately I got out of that nonsense haha. Thats some good insights, many of your points resonate with me. I haven't been the victim of being deeply hurt by being in love with the wrong person but I did waste 2 years of my life running after a girl who treated me like her personal butler. Then at the end she liked me but by then I realized that we could never be compatible so we stayed friends. The interesting thing is I am not bitter at all, the main reason being I should have seen the obvious that this girl clearly wasn't right for me so in a way I can only blame myself for those 2 wasted years. And if I am honest they weren't really wasted as I had some good life experiences which I have never forgot.