Leferd

I've always wanted to play Sword of the Samurai. Feudal Japan is a fantastic setting and lots of great games are derived for the setting. Nobunaga's Ambition and both Shogun Total War games at the forefront. That said, I prefer solid and fun gameplay over strict adherence to realism or myopic deference to historical accuracy.

Yeah, it's being angry is his Schtick, but his presentation is clever, funny, and effective. He's one of the better known indie reviewers and his opinion carries heavy weight in social media circles and in the Total War communities. His video was released yesterday, and his thread on the official TW forums is nearing 200 pages - and the Creative Assembly is definitely listening.

Spot on review by Angry Joe: I don't know how salvageable this game is even with post release support but it is a mess. However, it's still Total War and the underlying mechanics and gameplay is still fun. I'll still be playing.

Observations: - no guard mode - it took me about 15 turns to get Legionaries - and convert all my hastati - brokering trade agreements is rough - instant ferry crossings - no family tree - battles take six minutes Despite the above, I'm really liking the game. I like the Legion (legacy) system. Army recruitment is less frustrating and more intuitive.

Finished the prologue for Rome 2. The UI and campaign mechanics are different from the previous games -looks like I have to learn and familiarize myself with this more. Like all previous TW games... A little buggy at launch but nothing a few patches won't cure. Apparently CA will be releasing weekly patches for the next few weeks too.

If I recall, I believe the BG1 portraits reference material were based on actual real people -like Bio devs - and they wanted to get away from that.

Modern day school setting in the American heartland. Sounds like South Park would be perfect.

Someone needs to diagram this.

Lanfear was an old poster from Germany who frequented the old Black Isle/Interplay boards during the BG days. She was obsessed with the Coran character and wanted to romance the guy. Gaider in those days actually included some of the more memorable posters on those boards and included them into the games -Mencar, Del, Gromnir, and Lanfear. As a joke, Dave created a love triangle between Lanfear, Safana, and Coran, that ultimately led to the murder of Coran. The real Lanfear was not amused and apparently found it insulting instead of finding it funny and or flattered.

Yeah. Too funny.

I hope they try to do that to Lanfear.

Personally I just wanna see a photo of Urquhart's face when Sawyer told him Obsidian funding his parties in Vegas was an important part of the game development process. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/1257-darren-monahan-and-chris-avellone-lost-1050-to/?hl=poker&do=findComment&comment=36996

I know Steve Dengler (founder of xe.com) put up 10k for DoubleFine Adventure, Torment, and Veronica Mars. Not sure if or how much he put in for PE.

Tats and scars. And ear piercings. Lets not overlook the gratuitus piercings.

Great piece of long form sports journalism on Japanes baseball. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9452014/pitcher-tomohiro-anraku-future-japanese-baseball-espn-magazine I disagree strongly with some of their practices but can understand why they do it.

So last night, my 99 accuracy Support Sergeant has a 99% chance to hit against a floater to finish off the mission? He misses. Next turn he got critically hit by that same floater and joins my memorial wall. A nearby Support Squaddie then panics and kills one of my Assault Corporals. That's XCOM for you.

Yes, a Japanese team can beat MLB teams. Given a small enough sample size, they can even beat the out over a series. If you insert them into the AL or NL, will they be able to come out with a .500 plus record over a 162 game season? Nope. Then again, Japanese teams have won the WBC and Little League World Series against strong international competition.

Justin Sweet and Jason Manley are cool and all but I'm really impressed by Kaz, the designated portrait artist. http://media.obsidian.net/eternity/media/updates/0040/orlan.jpg http://eternity.gamepedia.com/File:Dwarf_ranger.jpeg Errr..that didn't work quite right. Darn iOS.

WH saying that chemical weapons have been used and very little doubt that it was Assad. Very clear language.

I bet it comes with multiple hats. Multiple fancy hats.

I let my rice cool just a bit then saute it in a bit of olive oil with chopped up veggies (whatever strikes your fancy) and a dash or two of soy sauce. I like it a bit browned. Super good. I've even taken the leftovers the next morning and added eggs to it, scrambling it all together. In California, we call that fried rice.

Some are better tweeters than others. Haikus aren't that much longer. Dave's actually not so bad...but snarky comments about crying babies and murder is laying it a bit thick. He did that a few weeks back. Still twitter is a pretty good medium for informal interactions and is more accessible than Internet forums.

I don't actively follow Bio anymore - atleast not much since they switched over to the BSN - but I do follow Gaider's twitter. He's always been one of the most accessible developers and speaks his mind and takes his licks very well. He'll banter sometimes playfully, sometimes seriously. But I've noticed that he's been ornery of late... Especially when it comes to babies and criticism. Kinda coming across as insufferable and off-putting at times. Far cry from the days when he was posting in character as Viconia and Jaheira.

I think The Maker's got a sick sense of humour And when I die I expect to find Him laughing

Ahh yes, the known entity that is Cavelierus Albinus.