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Chippy
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Posts posted by Chippy
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I've found that if I don't listen to an entire song it gets stuck in my head, so ... thanks for that. Really.
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Two great guitar solo's from two classic songs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Pa9x9fZBtY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8e7pPGLVQg
I was working with some blokes once and they were annoyed becauseI didn't go to a strip club with them; my reply was "Guys I found this song last night, I'd take listening to it over a stripper in my face anyday".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI98xPkLNVU
Just a perfect song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4-a8zh0m9c
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For what it's worth (I may just be looking for trouble) I live in London and attended an inner city school where the mix of culture's from all over the world created what is effectively another variation on the english language. It goes beyond a type of slang (based on what was implemented in PST) to an accent and change of various words that professionals (some of whom I've worked with) consider a verbal communication of intent - so if you don't speak in this manner, you may be considered an outsider or a threat.
That may be totally irrelevant, but thought I'd post it anyway.
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@LadyCrimson - You have to admire the spin though
As though that customer is the only specific type it wont reach. Heh.@Greylord - I have to politely disagree with a few points there - I had the same philosphy of ownership as you have (I own the hardware and the disc) but Securom shattered that pretty well, it made it's way onto my PC without my knowlege and sabotaged my DVD drive when I switched video cards. So I'm sure I'm another statistic that they can add to consumers who desire/are using that 'product' but I didn't have a choice in its installation or its uninstallation because its removal tool didn't work. I had to format the HD on another PC; they have no control over that and I'm sure (jaded enough) that if they could implement facial recognition and fingerprint ID on our camera's and mice to prevent it they would ... that's where I see this all going.
There was also a court order stating that Securom should be advertised on the game, which publishers have ignored.Xbox One may not have Securom I know, but the effect is the same - you don't own the game or the hardware if a publisher or otherwise can prevent you from accessing your property. It's that basic consumer breach of rights that concerns me, because I know as soon as EA or Activision work out how, its coming to the PC. I honestly don't care though because its all about Kickstarter for me now, but I'd buy South Park and other games to support Obsidian because we've yet to see if Kickstarter is enough for the midsized developer to survive.
So if I get it on Steam I know the only thing I have to worry about is Valve going out of buisness...to which they've stated the if the customer has backed up their game, will run forever without the online requirement, wit hSteam as a simple offline launch utility.
So ultimately I don't see the big bad about 'Steam DRM' that others do (like the Shadowrun returns backlash) and really consider my participation in other forms of DRM as a result of being a total plonker. But I'm past that now...
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Just adding to my previous post, but for thieves to have an awareness of the potential gain for stealing would be cool. I get the impression developers groan at the thought of implementing stealing as it's gradually faded over the years, but if I had a rough idea of the potential gain I might be tempted to turn an entire town hostile and spam the reload button.
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If I was a student of marketing or buisness I'd have my eyeballs glued to every bit of info about the XBone - just as a consumer there's certainly alot going on when a company like MS feels it can take these steps. I don't want to sound like I'm just adding to the mob, but when you take a moment to look at what MS are saying: things like "If your backwards compatible, your really backwards" and "Gamers will buy it becasue that's what gamers do" (that was the most chilling) and comments like "Gamers without 1mb internet should just get an XBox360" this last one was in the same breadth as snarkily remarking how someone was complaing he had no internet on a submarine - and the MS guy expected getting a connection there was hard. BT are my provider and I'm sure a constant connection is less reliable.
It's this level of assurance and hubris that drug dealers assume over their clients. I find it all a bit disgusting. A wild theory though is that this is what happens when companies start monitoring their clientele - hours spent playing games, how they're played, etc.
75 hours was the average spent for millions playing Skyrim, that's 2 working weeks or ten days. I wonder how the buisnessperson percieves that? That the average gamer can afford to spend 10 days a year or less on just one game in a library of...
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If there wasn't an alternative I'd be concerned that people would feel they have to buy it. I wonder if this is another step towards the market crashing that doomsayers have been going on about?.
As for the PC though, its all just setting the stage for further restrictive DRM in future AAA games (that I won't be buying, even if Transformers 3 has Grimlock wearing a bowtie) and pushing players into Steam sales. Then MS might decide to go after that?.
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i was thinking of a detailed awaresness feat/ability. Something more complicated than NWN1 where an enemy was coloured (purple I think) at hardest difficulty - but not exactly that I think as it only railroads the player into avoiding encounters. But maybe for Rangers or Thieves, they could spot the vorpal weapon carried by a fighter, or the markings on the cloak of a mage that specialises in summoning - just that little somethin that tips the player off with enough info that they can prepare a bit, without making it easy.
Then at least when I encounter the RPGCodex party I can prepare for their miniguns and nuclear warheads.
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My favourite John Lee Hooker Duet's:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOsFfM3lbsQ
This song is without a doubt the smoothest, sexiest, coolest... you get the idea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guDNdUzFZaQ
Any song with Van Morrison:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAXLRAj8xOo
Wasted Years, The Waterfront, Don't Look Back, Serves Me Right To Suffer, Dimples, etc.
Bonnie Rait
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT-FoZt95D4
Santana
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43yvS6bPZDs
RIP John Lee Hooker
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Instant death is the single most reviled thing on my list of pet hates - it represents bad developer design in one single infuriating example.
That said I'm talking about different examples of it:
1. Glitchy - you bounce off another character and get catapulted several hundred game feet into the air, over a cliff, and die.
2. Developer thinks their Bullfrog's Dungeon Keeper - you enter a dungeon, the first floor tile is an illusion with a DC of 30,000, and beneath is a dragons mouth agape and waiting for your character.
3. Totally random - a meteorite flys through the atmosphere and blazes through your eyesocket, killing you instantly.
Then there's the developer/modder who think it's great fun to have the meterorite crack you one in the eye (spilling blood/haze all over the screen and breaking the 4th wall) have you scripted/catapulted through the air and into the waiting jaws of a dragon - because THIS IS HARDCORE PC GAMING, and arn't you the silly gamer for relying on your character skills and not knowing where to step on the tiled floor of faith.
I have faith in Obsidian though; and in all fairness the infinity engine games always offered you a protection against instant death. The only exception I think was some vorpal weapons and Monk abilities?.
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I have a 5850 (solo) and it's still playing games fine....
I can't crank it all to the max, but could play games like BF3 and it still looked great. The 5850 was pretty much universally regarded as the best bang for buck at the time, as it had a price point for a mid range, but was only like 10% slower than the top end cards.
I don't know how loud a card can truly get if it threatens hearing damage, however. I never buy dual cards though so I don't know.
I actually had the pleasure of going from a 8800 GTS to a 5870 at work. The 5870 *trounced* the 8800 in everything (and was more feature rich while playing games like BFBC2 and BF3). You probably would have been better off not running games in crossfire mode (although it sounds like the card is borked in general), as the solo 5870 annihilates the 8800 GTS.
Hearing damage can be estimated by not being able to communicate (normal level of voice) verbally with someone 1m away, 2m to be on the safe side as they've changed the decibel levels a few years ago. If I had any kids I'd regulate the amount of noise they were exposed to:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/noise/calculator.htm by estimating the average. With noisy games and the constant hum of the PC I suspect it really adds up.
It seems that Securom won't let me change my DVD drive either, as another one installed still can't read DVD's, and changing the drive letter/boot priority under the bios is the same. So I've got to connect the hard drive to another PC and format that while it's running on another system. If I didn't have my brothers PC to bridge the tech gap with my old XP system and newer WIN7 system and hardware I would be ummm .... quite upset now.
Nowhere on the box for the game was it advertised that Securom was installed with that game. The only positive from this is that I have now made my mind up to never buy a physical copy of a game anymore. If plans work out for Obsidians Star Wars game, I think I'd only get it on Steam. Which hasn't raised any alarms. Yet.
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Wait, what? My Radeon 5870 still performs ridiculously well, which is why I feel no need at all to upgrade to a 7970 or 8970 (whenever that's out). It is also surprisingly silent (bought one of those overclocked models with three turbo fans, forgot the name).
How can an old Nvidia 8800 GTS perform better than a Radeon 5870?
True the raw power is greater, (I think you have the top of the range model, I've got the cheaper model, but it still had 1gig of ram compared to the GTS @ 512mb) but in crossfire mode playing Skyrim or War for Cybertron it isn't 'compatible' and the game stutters. So I'm better off with the GTS, which is also quieter than the ati model I've got. I'm very particular about hearing damage as it's the dosage of noise you recieve over the course of a week that contributes to it, not just a single massive decibel amount of noise - and those cards are LOUD. So really they were a waste of money as years later this old card can still run these games well.
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I feel like that guy in Fallout 2 taken in by the Deathclaws at the moment (the one with the string of bad luck). I was playing War for Cybertron and Securom assassinated my DVD drive. It actually broke it. The removal tool (of course) doesn't work and now it won't read DVD's, so I can't format windows unless I buy another DVD drive.
The twin ati 5870 cards who's fans started rattling after 6 months finally gave up. I could tap them upwards to stop said rattling, bu now they're shot. I could fix them by threading the spindle and adhesive/slotting a nut to the fan, but installed my brothers NVidia 8800 GTS while I summon the incentive and ... it actually performs better than those twin idiot cards in crossfire mode on certain games.
Then I tried to boot up KOTOR1&2 but they wont work on multiple core processors, so (instead of throwing the "latest and greatest" PC out the window) I calmly put it aside and powered up my trusty XP PC. But the sound card was kaput. So replacing that with the SB16 card (more than 15 years old) I'm now running my trusty PC in a hardware configuration that has seen more than 10 years of use.
My point? I've spent more than £4000 over the past ten years on hardware - and it was a waste of money. Now that I'm done with AAA games and focusing on Kickstarter titles, I plan on building a PC that is reliable. So unless the Unity engine games - or whatever engines are used in future Kickstarter games from our favourite developers - start demanding software (e.g. shader models) from the latest and greatest cards, I should get away with upgrading ram and linking 1 > 4 video cards to handle future Kickstarter titles. Which should leave me more money to donate.
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*Signs in* Obsidian doing great work as usual. *Signs out*
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I couldn't work out the pathfinding pattern for my hair loss either, so I had hair transplant surgery, it worked out at £2 a hair which was £8000for a loss at the temples and about 20mm receding from the forehead...you just have to plan the waypoints for where the hair starts fall out about a year ahead and plan accordingly. And try to pull it out from the back of your head during fits of rage - it grows back quickly there.
A colleague suggested a medi-gel type chemical injected into the scalp, but I asked if it blocked DHT from an abundance of testosterone and had dumbed down side effects such "drooping Hanar" and referring to yourself in the third person as "this one" during hardcore RPG sessions, and he didn't seem to know what I was talking about...
Ok, I might get banned. Yes - agree with the pathfinding suggestions and the party ai toggles found in NWN2, so I can plot a path and toggle a party member stay hidden and passive along the way.
...Maybe those dots he leaves could be little clumps of hair
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I like the idea of having unique dialogues available when your characters are in a tavern and drinking. My party gathers round the table to toast there latest victory;
(imagine them seated and holding pewters or wine flagons etc) tales of triumph and despair and maybe a secret or two come to light.
Isn't that usually when tavern fights break out
maybe from the locals or all the guys you've kicked out of the party. What if (maybe asking a lot here) the adventurers you kicked out of the party or didn't get along with all band together and all come after the players party. Either seriously or just for a punch up at the tavern. -
Similar to the announcement that Wasteland 2 will keep weapons relevant throughout the game, I'd like there to be a valid reason to hold onto that signature weapon. Having watched Crisis Core and currently playing through FF7, it's a great touch to learn that a modder has made the buster sword gradually increase in power through use.
I appreciate the concept of finding a +1 weapon, but it feels like cheating. If I could melt that +1 sword down though and use the metal to craft/add a guard to my sabre (giving bonus to ac) it would feel more legitimate / aid roleplaying. For me anyway.
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Apologies for not knowing/remembering how many party members there are, but it always seems that I don't replay games enough to get all the interactions and banter, so what if (story allowing) we could gather them all at an inn or the stronghold and sit them down for a chin wag? Maybe in designated chairs or something (hopefully it wont start to resmble an AA meeting). It usually seems as though there's a trigger of some kind anayway and various reasons for missing it, so maybe for banters and interactions missed this could be done?.
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About loading screen tips (which were really immersion breaking for me in BG2, but got used to them) I'd prefer not to have them because I'd rather stare slack jawed at the art, or if they must be in, have the option to be there for at least 5 seconds before the area loads on a fast hard drive - because it's really immersion breaking to get 1/2 way through the tip, the area loads and the OCD kicks in while I'm racking my brain to remember what chapter of the manual the tip was related to, which means I'm not concentrating and get an arrow to the face, which is probably what the tip was all about anyway and likely related to a rule I knew about already.
Just saying. Because, you know, that stuff is important.
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If there was a method whereby I could erase the past ten years (maybe take a few games with me) but generally go back to the positive view I had on where RPG's would go, I think PE, Planescape Numenera, and Shadowrun Returns are taking me back there. I might have to stand my character by that waterfall for a while, but I actually think the stink of the past decade is starting to wear off.
You guys are solid, and I'm getting all misty.
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Swearing - when implemented appropriately - can be hillarious. Annah walking into the upper ward was totally unexpected with her "...also known as..." comment. So was thinking of a range of swear words unique to PE, like 'Taffer' was in Thief.
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Dialogue/accent/tone/culture and lingo according to surroundings; maybe alot of work, but if your thief is entering a ball or fancy dress party with face masked, they should have the appropriate manner and dialogue to pass off as a guest, or getting caught in the slums without knowing the proper (jig?) and lingo used also being a problem.
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Was just thinking that one of the few things I liked about Skyrim was the Stormcloak missions (where you helped them raid a crypt or assault a castle, etc) it would be great if the crafting skill was taken into account and I had the option to equip those guys with better stuff - in true RPG fashion though, so maybe it would advance my reputation with the faction, or even within that scouting party if their leader was corrupt. Getting a bit detailed now.
Maybe even just give them some gold to upgrade their gear - likely the sort of thing a cleric, monk paladin would do.
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I like games from most genre's (they seem to be difficult to categorise these days). I'd consider Shogun 2: Total War and Assassins Creed series more 'roleplaying' games than Skyrim, and Warhammer: March of Chaos to have more RPG class mechanics than ME:2 (omitting dialogue). I've always wanted large scale battles in RPG games, but to look at some comments on the BG:EE forum, it seems people are afraid of it becoming an RTS if you introduce that type of scenario and suddenly BG's playstyle has become Warhammer:40K Dawn of War?.
If I had to prioritize one consistant thing in all my favourite games; it would be player identity - either aspiring Shogun of Japan, Ezio, Garret, a Transformer, Tukaram (Blade of Darkness), a newb patsy Vampire, Mechwarrior 3's pilot lost behind enemy lines (now that was one game where voice over's were done well - Bullfrog's Dungeon Keeper came second), all the RPGs from Obsidian and KOTOR2 (which went places with the protagonist no one has dared before).
Even the facesless cyborgs from the Syndicate games had more visual style and character than whatever any of my Elder Scrolls characters have been.
Might be missing a few here and there Alpha Protocol and Deus Ex pulled of the spy really well, but every game had a player tone and went with it. That's why I think it's important to keep your character in a setting/game (your alter ego) because I've personally only got one.
As though that customer is the only specific type it wont reach. Heh.
There was also a court order stating that Securom should be advertised on the game, which publishers have ignored.
X-Box One
in Skeeter's Junkyard
Posted · Edited by Chippy
I thought this article was evaluative: http://www.destructoid.com/an-industry-that-needs-xbox-one-drm-is-a-failed-industry-256643.phtml
It makes sense that certain parts of the industry needs more money to make the games it want's to make, so will just look for another way to make that money for those games. But as mentioned, as long as they leave Kickstarter, Indie games and Steam alone it's all good for me.
Having been screwed over by DRM several times I think I can make that self indulgent statement.