syn2083

Thank you everyone, I am honored to be introduced as a Moderator for the forum and am excited to get to work updating the FAQ and helping out our fellow users. I very much appreciate this.

Thinking back I haven't owned a pivot capable monitor in a long time, and now seeing the price difference in the ones that do include it I can see why. Though that is no reason for them to be expensive its an odd parity. Didn't much expect that.

Turns out its actually somewhat difficult to find a pivot monitor these days that isnt insanely expensive. That said, on the 'cheaper' side of those is this guy (not sure what country your in, but at the least to see the monitor): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001807 SAMSUNG S24C750P I love samsung screens myself, they are one of the top display makers out there, some of their post proc/engine work is not as good as sony, but pure display is hard to beat. I have a 27" 1080p syncmaster as my secondary and the picture quality is excellent +. If you can live without the pivot there are a lot more options well bellow the 280-350$ range, my best monitors have been samsung or asus, though acer makes a decent unit (lately there seem to be more quality complaints however). A somewhat cheaper pivot: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824176232 This one from HP, I generally like their monitors but find them to be somehow on the soft/blurred side (not blurry per se, but just blurred) so if you prefer that it could be an option. They tend to be more utilitarian due to the normal demographic. A really good samsung non pivot for ~160: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001546 Just some potential things/starting points.

Just finished up TWD:400 Days, was a gift from a friend, short but that was expected. Otherwise great story telling and seeing only small small bits of these peoples stories was great. I really enjoyed it, can't wait for S2 of TWD from Tell Tale. They do an excellent job with narration, and the control schema is quite refreshing to step into. Otherwise playing some ai war, and monster hunter ultimate

Kevin Conroy from batman's animated adventures is the only one I can think of when I hear batman mentioned. Internal intone for the win! -Secondarily, This is the end was hilarious, the wife and I loved it, highly recommend if anyone wants to see a fun funny movie and watch a lot of actors 'die' as 'themselves'.

It is a little complicated to do it for all folders simultaneously. The way w8 works is it assigns folder templates based on the contents of the folder. Folder view settings (eg list/details/etc) are set for only that template and not just folders in general. So, either you change it per template (open up the main set of folders in your library for instance to get pictures, docs, videos, etc) and or, force all folders to be a specific template (overriding their normal template, and only having one). Theres a couple walkthroughs and how to do this: http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/9753-folder-view-set-default-all-folders-windows-8-a.html http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/9288-folder-template-set-default-all-folders-windows-8-a.html And to set the settings for a template, or individual templates (either way): http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/9751-folder-view-apply-folders-windows-8-a.html

Just wanted to say, from what I've narrowed it down from, in many Ways Win8 builds on Win7 and SHOULD (should being the key word) be just as compatible with programs as Win7. MS seems to have introduced some weird protocols (anti-piracy or something) that actually prevents some programs from running right, even with compatibility on. I have NO idea who the idiot at MS was that thought such a move was such a good idea. Even worse, unless you hack their program (which WILL invalidate their agreement with you if I read right) and disable the way they made the items (if you try to shut it down without hacking, it will give you the option to either leave it on and keep going, or shutdown, no other options that I can see), there is no way to turn that program off. Which is sad, you SHOULD have compatibility, but because of stupid decisions on MS's part, they decreased the compatibility for absolutely no good reason on a program that actually HAS the ability to be compatible, but is prevented from BEING compatible because they programed it to purposefully NOT be compatible with some items. But if you don't mind hacking the program out, pretty much everything should still be compatible...just be aware that you'll be voiding your license with MS if you do so... Hence why I haven't and instead still have a WinXP and Win7 machine for those programs...which sucks because Win8 COULD do it if MS wasn't so stupid with how they've handled it. PS: AS for the interface, as stated previously, once you get over the initial shock, it isn't bad and there are some good advantages to it, especially if you have enough money to get a touch screen for your desktop or laptop. Even without them however...it's still useful as I can arrange it like the desktop, but with the ability to zoom out and in I have a LOT more space for a LOT more icons if I so desire...and don't have to clutter the actual desktop with them if I don't want. I've only really run into one instance where I couldnt kill a program (even with a force pid kill from cmd) otherwise ive been able to do just about anything. Typically it may require adding the user account to higher integrated security tiers but thats about it in my case. I also havent had to hack any of my programs to get them to run so I am not sure what programs you are speaking of, nor use compat mode really. The only thing I initially had issues with was the drivers for nvidia hd sound and also creative labs drivers, they would sometimes crash or not recognize audio devices. A couple weeks in that was remedied however. Beyond that all of my work apps, personal or games have worked fine -shrug even running a VM to host an old win2k3 server has worked fine and actually memory use overall dropped with a more stable platform for it, so thats been great.

top middle you get a hand icon, click and drag to the bottom to go back to start, upper left corner goes to desktop, bottom left start screen, upper right/bottom right charm sidebar

agreed, that is quite vexing

When was windows 7 ever hated? The only reaction I ever saw to W7 is that it was Vista done right. Apart from a select few who still preferred XP, in any circle I frequent, W7 has always been praised. From day 1. Praised, and scorned: http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2009/06/windows-7-reality-check-it-can-still-suck-big-time/ the comments mostly are what to pay attention to. Its easy to forget after 4-5 years and a new OS that generates a lot of hate. w7 was no different than any of the other OS launches, loved, hated, defended, thrown away. Some more examples from the fun times, the end of days, the beginning of a new chapter and all the hideous and unforgivable problems of 7! http://cybernetnews.com/windows-7-sucks-ill-stick-with-vista/ (shockingly a very common statement at the time, seriously, that was insane whoever of you said screw it 7, I want vista!)............. http://gizmodo.com/5150284/7-things-we-hate-about-windows-7 the comments here bring up another of the common rants, better than vista but still garbage! http://my.opera.com/Zentarien/blog/2010/05/12/why-all-the-love-for-windows-7-it-still-sucks random blog filled with vitriol, also not uncommon http://www.maximumpc.com/article/reviews/windows_7_review?page=9 if you care to dig through the old comments at the bottom, the review is positive though in parts silly, but the comments show that time tested X old is good, YZ new is bad! (in this case mostly XP go go go! vista sucks and so does 7!) I am not trying to say that windows 8 is any kind of god send, awesome amazing life changing OS. Its not, in many ways for a regular person at home its not great at all and is simply confusing. MS superiorly bungled in many regards there. Outside of that (which is a huge area, point acknowledged) it is actually a really good operating system. If MS did a better job of desktop access, and in the intro minutes explained how to get to and use it properly it would have been a very different story. As it is, if you love w7, thats great, its a very reliable system. If you love XP, by now ridiculously stable due to age and the years of support, but dated, wildly inefficient in some major ways and support is dropping/dropped for certain things. @babaganoosh13 /snip You bring up and point out some excellent things. and I for the most part completely agree. The biggest problem w8 has is that Microsoft was overtly heavy handed in forcing metro. on a desktop/laptop it really should have been a symbiotic beast at the least, if not a known baby step into the new tile layout. Create a default snap of Metro on the desktop thats easily disabled, a short intro and instructions and a 'normal' desktop along with it. They failed to remotely do this and especially the older (no offense to many of our parents) users are typically more confused == hateful as a result. Some of them end up loving metro and how 'easy' the apps are. Some hate it. In the end MS is clearly getting the hint with 8.1 and trying to add some ways to make it a bit more older feeling. Its not nearly enough yet, but system shock to everyone else who has actually adopted w8 isnt necessarily a smart move at this point either. For those of us using 8 and enjoying it, theres some good feature add in 8.1 and will help round it out more, which is fantastic, in time it will become a stepping stone (imo) to w9 or whatever new monicker they dream up, perhaps more letters to distance from w8 comparisons outright. So bottom line, I really enjoy w8 and use it every day. Work has a mix of 7/8 and either performs equally well for the job, with some software exceptions (very old platforms we use that cannot use IE10 or fall down with someof the w8 changes) but thats vendor issue and not MS per se. Otherwise, if people really hate on it, or cant use it, thats cool. Not trying to force it on, or down anyones throat. We all gotta eat, but we dont need to all eat the same thing right?

At first I really didnt enjoy windows 8, however ive become quite fond of it, minus the searching. Searching is flat broken for anything beyond installed 'apps' really. With minor tweaks you can make it into a more than capable desktop OS and never lay eyes on metro *unless you use snapping, which can actually be real handy* One very simple addition that I really really like is the monitor spanning task bar with monitor specific program icon placement. Its actually super helpful for highly multi-tasked environments and sanity. Drivers originally were quite an issue but at this point are not an issue unless you run very old tech, or something very obscure, but thats on the company who made it really. Storage spaces is actually great if you use it, and allows for decent redundancy and drive pooling.Memory performance and reclamation is quite improved even from win7 and compared to XP (which really had none realistically) is wonderful. I have thus far found w8 to be supremely stable, 0 BSODs/crashes. Only issue was self inflicted and using PC Refresh was perfect. IS w8 perfect? Not even close. Metro UI for a desktop machine is ridiculous, and the argument that you need to tweak it to get a 'usable' desktop OS has some good points. Beyond that, what OS when launched didn't require 'tweaks' for power users, or to be more like the previous generation? Lots of people pine for the tried and true. There is merit and value there, just as when XP launched it was demonized, hated, skewed skewered and roasted. nothing was better than w95, or w98. 98 was the epitome of OS construction! XP was trash in comparison, suffered huge stability issues, and wasnt nearly as polished! Then you have those gate OSs that really ARE garbage (windowsME....gag, Vista, W8 partially). Windows 8 if you cut it in half is perfect, metro on a mobile platform, and desktop on a desktop. Unfortunately MS made it difficult to see that for a common user, and power users prefer the nostalgia. Thats fine, but W8 is the XP of now. In 5 years people will laud the customibility of it, how you can install it on your desktop and synch easily to your tablet and walk. Its all perspective. Will MS listen? I dont see why not, at first in smaller ways, later on in larger. Just as they did from 3.1 -> 95 then 98, then they try ME and throw up and regroup for XP XP takes a beating and a half and they press on and use the most stable core they have ever made to construct vista, overall vista is to unpolished, so they regear again and provide w7 which was hated, and now is very well regarded (the biggest gripe being menu bars, so seriously..) and now windows 8, no big deal. We learn, we evolve, we adjust. Just wait until we all have leads attached to our iris's and become the cloud, win-eye 2120, the damn transparency is more glassy than 2117! They removed the offline folder recorder for dreams and made it into an external dump! Such is life.

Some upgrades coming soon, try to sit 1-2 generations behind cutting edge for budget Main Rig: Gigabyte P67A-D3-B3 i5 2500 g-skill ripjaws 8gb ddr3 1600 GTX 460 OC SB Recon3D PCIe for DDL gaming - opti out to denon avr *ddl is insane* + analog to headphones for music (JVC HARX900) Movies/Shows routed through gtx460 hdmi -> denon avr1713 5.1 (Polk center fr/fl - onkyo sub/rr/rl) Sony Bravia 42" primary monitor Samsung syncmaster 27" 1080p secondary OS Windows 8 Pro OS drive Mushkin 120gb-DX SSD Storage1: WD Black 1TB Storage2: WD Green 1.5TB Storage3: WD Passport 1TB DC/Media Server: ASRock FM2A85X-ITX AMD A10 5800K (PE-Kickstarter Reward) 3.8ghz + cooler master geminII Graphics Integrated APU Radeon HD7660D + external Radeon HD6670xFire GSkill Ares 8gb DDR3 1866 Corsair CX430M Housed - Cooler Master RC-120A-KKN1 HDD: OS (Win2012 Server Standard) OS Drive - Intel 520 SSD SC2CW180A3 (180gb) Streaming/App hosting: WD Black 1TB File Server - light streaming: WD Green 2TB Ext1 - WD Elements 3TB Ext2 - WD My Book 2TB

If you remember the KS finish line party it shouldn't be that hard to imagine

it looks like the sites back up, and i removed the spam, and banned the bot.. thats about all I can do at the moment =/

For all that is sacred and holy this.

I think it would be interesting if the stronghold was under the purview of the mega city, and as such you were able to become a city councilor and have influence regarding certain "laws" and other things regarding the city. That could be an interesting dynamic and alternative. I would not like it to be within the city either, so this is a nice middle ground I think. It could be a neat 2 way street, eg, You are a council member, and also, with a stronghold are tasked with coming to the aid of the city 'prelate' or whatever, if called upon. The city is attacked by XYZ, and you can go to his aid, send some 'troops', ignore it, etc, and receive the consequences, good or bad. As a council member, vote for less or more taxes, perhaps bribing other council members. Being established as a power, next to much older houses, they get angry and try to bully/bribe/shun you, etc. Lot's of possibilities

This was one of the things that I think, more or less, happened in Fallout 1/2. Some of the overworld map encounters were simple fights, but others were effectively short stories, and it is something I always loved. One of the things, I think, that really sets a good 'world' setting apart from a fantastic one, is how much detail is placed on the detail to tertiary story/historical potentials. This is often over looked in many games, or done in a very clumsy, clunky way. EG, you need to head to Brackentorch to gain the spectral sphere which will help defeat the mighty olden grakh. Upon entering Brackentorch you find a small girl pittiously begging for medicine for her dying mother. Etc etc etc. While this adds a bit of flesh to this area, you were going here anyway, and the only reason there is a little quest here is to add some fake depth to this area not to the world and setting. Games are often disjointed this way, and traveling serves only as a way to grind out levels between cities, and keep you stocked up on gold to buy more armor at city ABC while doing numerous side fetch quests that are materialy meaningless in the case of the world before you head into dungeon XYZ. One of the things I loved about the fallout series was that while you needed to visit most of the cities, there was real substance to each location. Travelling was dangerous, but often led to some funny moments, or caravans being attacked, random farm houses, etc. There was a real sense that this world was 'living' and regardless of your travel to and from a location, things were happening outside of your merry band of misfits. I truly hope, and I have faith that they will keep this in mind while writing and designing the game. These folks generally are not known for a lack of depth or care when designing, and I expect to see a high quality game from all aspects, inside and outside of the major city hubs, and story dungeons.

There aren't any such places in Skyrim. The only one I can think of is Blackreach, but you're spoiling the related quest, not the location itself. You know, if it were that easy. To be serious, I just thought maybe you guys found a way, like choosing a entirely different class/character than usual or just... something. Something to take away that aching pain of not-knowing without replacing it with spoiling. Hey, I never said I'm a rational person. :D @Ieo, well that's something, thanks May be a good start. I should drink a few glasses of Talisker while playing, maybe I'll forget then. If this were an MMO or something, that could be feasible but in this case that will be difficult. It's unlikely that there will be completely different threads from different starting points (ala DAO) but possible I guess. We wont know for a while. In general it's kinda not possible if you are actually participating in a beta as it is meant to be done, the point is to kinda do and try everything, and or test specific aspects. - EG you wont not find out some things of the story, you will. how much is on the developers and what they decide to release in a beta client.

In Finnish defence forces sexual relationships in mixed units between comrades are common place things and some times this relationships continue even after service. And even in full male units soldiers it's commonplace thing to go strip bars and see girlfriends on free time and even constantly calling for them in service hours. And of course it should be also remebered that in Finnish defece forces most of the soldiers are in service only for compulsory 6-12 months. And war brides are some what common thing in long wars. So romantic relationships can flourish in middle of misery and dead. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_bride I stand corrected then but I originally meant soldiers who are fighting in the frontlines having relationships with each other. From also being in the military, this does happen as well.. In the US it is less common that male and female 'troops' are on front lines together, actually this is quite a large 'problem' but that is another story. In the instances where it is common, either forward advance bases, or naval ships with mixed crews, it absolutely does happen. Whether because of the 'atmosphere' or because your in the middle of nowhere with no release, who can say. It varies, but it absolutely DOES happen. - Regardless of my statements above, the point is. It is a possibility, and to ignore it completely is unrealistic. When I was in the navy my shipmates were the BEST friends I had, period. A base I served at, well, there were female sailors and things did happen, usually its broken up when you get transferred, but rarely you can make it work. In the terms of a military, or a group of individuals fighting for their lives on a constant basis, in the middle of nowhere, spending nearly 24/7 together, you become eachother. You tell your comrades everything, things you would NEVER EVER tell anyone, not even your civilian best friend. You just do. I can't really explain it beyond that. You literally talk about everything, your worries, troubles, the things youve done and are ashamed of, things your proud of, the size of your new monitor, how your wife/friend/mother/whatever did this that and the other thing. How pissed off the chief was because your boots werent shined enough, how you tried to hide wearing white sox under black sox but were caught and had weekend pass revoked. Everything. You know these people so well, they become an extension of you, and people you would never normally like, or be compatible with, feel like a glove. When that happens, romances, friendships, rivalries are easy and fast and cheap. You will get a snarky comment from your best friend in the military and start throwing punches a second later, and 10 minutes after that be laughing about the sand in your eyes. It's just the way a close company like this works. So to ignore this is so unbelievable for anyone who has been through it, and those that can remotely understand it that it is shocking to not have it present. Apologies for the long reply here, but thats my experience, and that of many others who have served, and understand this level of comraderie.

I'm for the variety arguement. Though the trend of the bikini armor, has become quite silly. It is not something that makes me want to buy a game more. Story and mechanics do. More realistic armor on BOTH sides is fine with me.

Well the unity engine is a very small cost (which you can find on their website). It's 1500$/development seat for the interface so however many people they require to attach the various objects/integration. Beyond that there isn't much cost wise we would see really if you get down to it. - of course they would likely subdivide salaries based on objective goals, but again this would really equal out to peoples pay, so.. It's an in house IP so no fees there, all game assets would really be covered within employee salaries, though its possible they make a separate breakdown for each object, but at this point that kind of detail would be pretty difficult to do. We may see a breakdown for the set aside of physical production, eg units created for sale, but beyond that a lot of the cost would be obfuscated by salary. I mean for those of us that like numbers, sure, its interesting, but for most people its just random numbers with no real meaning.

I think it is not a good idea, and doubt it would happen on advice from their legal department. The reason I think it is not a good idea is mainly because, it's boring. The only reason these figures sound appealing is that it's for a videogame we helped fund. Beyond that its reams of numbers. Would you appreciate it if you worked for a company, who took in some money, and with no obligation posted your salary to the world? I sure wouldn't, nor is it fair or appropriate to ask them to. -We as backers are in the unique position of having only donated money for a project. We are not share holders, and are not legally entitled to anything beyond the pledge rewards we are promised via our pledge. I apologize if this sounds kind of mean, but it's never going to happen unless something catastrophic happens and a major lawsuit occurs.

The 'only' real -argument- I could see against it is for 'realism' breaking reasons. However, the easy counter to that is, its SP, and those that CARE about that aspect would come up with something theme appropriate, so in reality... It shouldn't much matter imo.

So much angst in these threads. It's like watching a companion romance gone wrong. In all seriousness, though futile an argument to make... Romance is a viable thought option for comrades who go through life changing, and world shattering events. If you have a super close friend, male or female of the opposite sex, or not depending on orientation, sexual tension is OFTEN a factor in the relationship. Whether acted on or not. To ignore something so very real is pretty silly and unrealistic. I always found that the most jarring of 'companion' characters in a lot of older cRPGs, the lack of dimension when considering relationships. Not that I wanted to 'get married for the sex lulz' because thats ridiculous. Just not having this option, or it fleshed out, or even really considered was always questionable to me. 'Hey you rescued me and my entire race/village/family/guild/kids/ponies/farm/hay stacks, let me follow you literally into the jaws of hell.' 'Sure sounds good!' Days/Weeks/Months/Years Later 'Well that was fun, i'm going home with my family now.' 'Uh, ok?' -Clearly some games had more 'interactivity' with companions, but in general this was still a very light dimension of the game, and at most a very linear path only giving extra depth to the companion and not necesarrily the both of you. Beyond that, they have stated they are having companion relationships of some sort, romances, rivalries, friendships are all logical extensions of a 'relationship'. It's clear that resources will be used for these themes and writing. At that point it really goes down to, dont like it, dont do it. It's pretty simple.