Keyrock

The Todd Helton Centaur that some fan painted and brought to a game a few days ago was both kind of disturbing and completely ****ing awesome:

So, the same thing that happens to pretty much every multiplayer online game when it launches.

I just hope it doesn't wind up being called Legend(s) of <something>. That naming scheme for fantasy games is so ridiculously played out. Someone needs to make a game called Legend of Legend as a joke.

In its final day Mighty No.9 is surging past all the stretch goals. At the moment it's right at the 3DS & Vita stretch goal, counting PayPal, which is great since I'll definitely be down for some Mighty No. 9 on my mighty little portable from Big N. I don't see any reason why this doesn't blast right past the 3.7 million Call Solo Stage stretch goal and get into Project Eternity funding territory.

The Seahawks are a completely different team on the road than at home, that's why it's imperative for the rest of the NFC not to let them get the #1 seed. Come December and January, if they have to go into, for example, Green Bay, yeah I can see them potentially losing. If the Packers, or whoever, has to go into Seattle, that's a completely different story. Obviously anything can happen, to break out the tired, worn out cliche, that's why they play the games, but for a team to go into Seattle to play the NFC Championship game and beat the Seahawks there with a rabid crowd dropping some 130 decibels on them? Good luck with that.

Oops. This is what happens when you type stuff up before you're fully awake. /throws egg on own face

Hats off to Francona for letting Price throw 118 pitches. The Sawx will appreciate a tired arm going against them in the ALDS, if the Rays get there. I'm not badmouthing Francona, by the way, you gotta do what you gotta do to win a sudden death game.

More Might & Magic X. I'm making my way through the castle now. So far, it's a significantly easier dungeon than the Lighthouse, mostly based on the fact that there are no freakin' Kenshi to fight. Those guys just gave me a hard time, even the regular ones, never mind the Elite Kenshi. The Militia and Brigands in the castle are chumps, even when I have to face multiple Elite Militia at once. Brigands, or elite Brigands for that matter are super easy. Even out in the open, I find them easier opponents than Militia, but in the tight, twisty confines of the castle, they're easy pickins because it's simple to force them into melee (where they're very weak) without getting pelted by arrows while closing ground. Conversely, it's hard to get much separation on Militia and getting much damage on them at range, before they get into melee range (where they're strong). I'm looking forward to the upcoming patch. Not only will it bring some bug fixes, and, likely, item comparison in shops, but it will introduce at least 2 new classes: Scouts and Shamans. I'm eager to try out the Shaman. From the 2 mage classes, Freemage and Shaman, revealed so far, I'd much more likely put a Shaman in my party than a Freemage (what I have now). A Shaman might not be as versatile as a Freemage, which will certainly hurt me in some situations, but they're the only class that can grand master in Arcane Discipline, which means higher magic resistances. On top of that, being an Orc means being physically tougher to begin with and having the Orcish ability to resist status effects. Plus the ability to wear medium armor, use shields, and wield spears and maces. In the end, I'll take the much higher survivability of the Shaman over the magic versatility of the Freemage. Of course I could always put both in my party, but I rarely do mage-heavy parties.

Meanwhile, Huell is still sitting in that room... I hope someone at least ordered him a pizza or something.

Yes you were, Walt. Yes you were.

Urquhart, Avellone, and other indie developers talk SteamOS

Great ending for an amazing series last night. Vince Gilligan wrapped up all the loose ends. My one qualm and other thoughts on the Breaking Bad finale: @LadyC - I abandoned Dexter shortly after the great John Lithgow season. The show was already rather uneven up to that point, with big ups and big downs, and I could see it going down hill fast. From what I've heard from people, I chose wisely.

So, let's see if I have this correct. Now the Rangers and Rays play a single game for the final wild card spot (a playoff to get into a playoff to get in to the playoffs, if you will), then the winner of that game plays a single game against the Indians, presumably in Cleveland. The winner of that game plays Boston in the ALDS. Who's hosting the Rangers/Rays game?

At home Seattle is damn near unbeatable. I think they've won something like 10 or 11 home games in a row.

If Seattle gets the #1 seed, no one else in the NFC has a chance to make it to the Super Bowl.

Ugh, the Cowboys are terrible. On the bright side, everybody else in the NFC East is terrible too. Someone is going to win this crappy division by default.

That's what Comcept is, Inafune started his own company. Yay, Risky Mode! The next stretch goal for Shantae should be no problem, hopefully they hit at least the costume change one too. I really want Hero Mode, but I doubt that will happen. I want my playable Rotty Tops!

As few as possible. Zero preferably. I'm not against cinematics in general, they can add to a game, the problem is that they cost money and resources. Project Eternity may be one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns ever, but it's still got a very limited budget in the grand scheme of things. The money and resources that would potentially be spent on cinematics would be much better spent elsewhere. Give me pictures and text, I'll be happy.

I went for a bike ride this morning. I rode about 23 miles in just under 2 hours with plenty of climbing, including a 2 mile long climb with a little over 500 ft elevation change for the final climb. Absolutely perfect conditions for riding: Low 60s when I left, mid-upper 60s when I got back. Practically no humidity, mild breeze. Gorgeous autumn foliage, relatively low amounts of traffic. The ride was simply spectacular. I feel fantastic right now. Once my adrenaline fully wears off I'll grab a bite to eat, crack open a beer, and plant my ass on the couch for a day of NFL watching.

Hmm, I should have named the thread "Keyrock's Hopefully Attractive Critters" or even "Keyrock's Hopefully Attractive Animals", as we've moved beyond just Order Rodentia, which I fully support, by the way. Cue LadyC putting up hundreds of cat pictures. Also, Capybara hugs are the best kind of hugs:

Oh boy, somebody's been drinking the advanced metrics Kool-Aid. Sure, advanced metrics can be useful, but no stat is foolproof, not in any sport. The eyeball test is the best test, and even that isn't foolproof.

Might & Magic X - It got lost in the backlog shuffle as multiple games I'd been waiting for came out. I decided to jump back into it and am glad I did. I'm having a great time with it. I restarted the game after the patch that arrived some 3 weeks ago, so I'm not very far, just finished the Thieves Den. There's a whole bunch of bugs, as you'd expect with an alpha, seemingly maybe even more bugs after the patch than before, but the bugs seem less game breaking than before, or that;s how it feels like, anyway. I'm contemplating doing the Lighthouse now. I was ill prepared last time I tried it, part of the reason I restarted game from the beginning. I'm one level higher now than I was at that time, plus I know to stock up on potions before I head in there, as there is no apparent way back once you get to a certain point. I may explore a bit more and get up one more level first, though. That will make the boss fight a lot easier, I think (homeslice handed me my rear end last time).

There is no single stat, or even collection of stats that fully defines a player's value. For example, you look at a guy like Johnny Gomes on the Sawx. He's batting .244 with 13 HR and 51 RBI. If you were to just look at those numbers and nothing else, you certainly wouldn't think "major contributor", and yet, he is. The clutch game saving hits, the smart base running, going 1st to 3rd, harassing the pitcher while on 1st to make him throw a wild pitch or give up a hit. Things like that don't show up in stats.

Put up new pic link, hopefully it works now.