I saved one of Keyrock's friends!

 

Trying to finish Bioshock (never made it through and I'm back in the area where I usually quit, so we'll see if I make it to the end this time...). The story isn't really grabbing me, but I gotta finish this, then move on to 2 and Infinity, my gamer cred is at stake

 

I also hit Mastery Rank 17 in  Warframe, they changed the test in one of the previous patched so my preparation was wrong, which means I needed two tries instead of acing it the first time around.

 

Aaand, I also picked up Guild Wars two again, my lvl23 Veggie Thief was still patiently waiting for me after two years (I got two "anniversary gifts" on login). One thing I noticed is that my build still played like it used to (in as far as I still remembered anyway), in World of Warcraft I probably wouldn't even have recognised the skill trees anymore after that much time... (*adding* to a character is imho *much* preferable over redoing entire classes with each bloody expansions. Did ya hear me Blizzard?). Edging closer and closer to lvl30 though I feel rather purposeless, I finished the last story mission I had at lvl23 and now I feel like I'm just grinding (by completing map objectives) to lvl30 so I can get more story...

I enjoyed DI1 co-op with a friend, not sure if I'd ever have finished it solo though. The game also suffers from a pretty boring (and pretty long) first area, the game only really got fun in the city and it became even better later in the jungle. Never got around to playing the DLC or Riptide though.

 

Can't say I'm very impressed with the graphical direction of the sequel. Curious to see how it turns out (same for Dying Light, which, at first sight appears more interesting than DI2)

Tried to get through Scourge: Outbreak, a third person cover shooter. Pretty awful imho, characters too similar and horribly bullet spongy enemies. Meh, uninstalled.

 

Still trudging through Wasteland 2, made it to Canyon of the Titan. Can't seem to really get invested in the game for some reason. Having fun when I fire it up but can't say I feel any urge to make it to the finish. Shame.

 

So after a bit of lugging through Canyon of the Titan I went back to my WH40K: Dawn of War 2: Chaos Rising, game is still good fun, apparently now has steam achievements too (though it appears I lost all the GFWL achievements I had).

 

 

 

 

Maybe if it goes way overboard and they run out of goals they will do something else.

2.5 million stretch goal - Scrap the game and make a linear first person shooter with massive setpieces and an overabundance of QTEs instead. 

 

Nah. Action FPS-RPG with TWO branches.

 

Dating simulator with qte sex scenes and plenty of SJ issues.

 

 

so new game from David Cage

 

I think you got your Davids mixed up Trololol

 

They're only asking for 100k?  If there is any goodness left in the world they will meet that goal in a matter of hours.  Then they can open up PayPal support and I can toss them some moneyz.

 

I don't think they use Amazon anymore if that is why you are waiting for PayPal.. still need a CC though

 

 

Ah, that's why it's asking me for my credit card info instead of allowing me to click through to PayPal. Kind of annoying.

 

As Bartimaeus intimated you should turn on file extensions as well, instructions here. That should make virus.png.exe attempts more obvious since the double extension should then become visible.

 

(stupid Microsoft with their moronic default options)

It's crazy, to me, how many people have them disabled. I don't understand how people get along without them - desktop, at the very least, would be unusable for normal file downloading and such - would have to view everything in Windows Explorer where it actually displays it.

 

You can enable file extensions in Windows 7 by opening any folder, clicking "Organize" in the top left, "Folder and search options", "View" tab, then unchecking "Hide extensions for known file types" in about the middle of the list. Vista is probably the same - don't know for 8.

 

It's even more crazy that Microsoft after all these years still thinks it's a good idea to turn them off *by default*.

 

Btw, do note that bugs in image libraries have been found a few times already meaning that malicious content could be installed into images without having to mess with the extension (see here for example).

 

Also, if you're not already use NoScript (in Firefox) I'd highly recommend it (though it makes certain websites tedious to visit, whether they are worth the effort if they're this badly built is imho, debatable), especially after the news of hacked (Flash) advertisements being served from Yahoo, resulting in infection of every single computer that ran those (see this comment).

 

Also do not open anything you consider suspicious without confirming with the person that seemingly sent it that they actually did send it to you.

 

I spent like 15 minutes wandering around in the library's vents, I'm absolutely certain there is no filter left in the vicinity, also the big mutants are very tough and I've run out of ammo. I dumped almost all my ammo into them only killing one and the knife really doesn't do anything. So I'm completely lost, choking, with no ammo while big beasts eventually hunt and kill me.

 

I actually think this would make a fitting canon ending for my play through.

Last Light I had to switch to easy difficulty eventually. 2033 I don't remember needing a gas mask in the library, I think I mostly ran from the Librarians. May be restart that level with a guide? Also I don't remember any Librarians in Last Light, or is that in an expansion?

 

Yes, it's one of the DLC, the exploration one named Kshatriya in the Factions Pack (which was really fun, wish they made a game around the concept though). I'd say getting the Factions Pack just for Kshatriya is worth it.

Two that I backed that were released and generally well received (to my shame, I haven't gotten to playing them yet, I know, I know ), both are RPGs

 

Consortium

 

Unrest

So Beamdog has access to a D&D license, I mean, to make *new* stuff?

 

Now I'd lie if I said the prospect of a BG(2)-style game weren't exciting, but I'd appreciate it if they left the actual Baldur's Gate name alone, the saga was pretty much finished (there were some interesting concepts in other threads/forums for post ascendance gameplay, but I don't have much faith in anyone but inXile/Bioware pulling those off properly), time for them to prove on their own they can create an experience that is as memorable as the BG-series was for many of us.

I spent like 15 minutes wandering around in the library's vents, I'm absolutely certain there is no filter left in the vicinity, also the big mutants are very tough and I've run out of ammo. I dumped almost all my ammo into them only killing one and the knife really doesn't do anything. So I'm completely lost, choking, with no ammo while big beasts eventually hunt and kill me.

 

I actually think this would make a fitting canon ending for my play through.

I just killed them in 2033 but afaik you don't have to kill the Librarians at all (and, as a matter of fact, they are nigh unkillable in Lats Light, on purpose, where they also respawn rather quickly to boot...). Pretty sure it's mentioned somewhere that you have to stare them in the face and they will bugger off (at least for a little while), though I seem to remember people saying that this was slightly dodge in 2033.

 

Then again, maybe the Librarians in 2033 Redux *are* the ones from Last Light, in which case staring them in the eyes *will* make them bugger off and actually trying to fight them is just a massive waste of time and resources.

 

 

Personally finished up the new Shadow Warrior game, it was good fun, though the controls were dodgy and sprinting down a flight of stairs is very likely to get you killed (*facepalm*).

 

I tried starting Dark Souls but, wow, is this a terrible *terrible* port (even with the fixes). Even the tooltips in the tutorial aren't adjusted for KB/Mouse, that combined with the outright sluggish movement means that I'm glad I bought this in a sale because I doubt I'll be playing much of this.

I thought Tomb Raider 2013 was an enjoyable game (too much annoying QTEs for any rating higher than "enjoyable"), but a terrible Tomb Raider game. It felt more like what I'd expect from an Indiana Jones game than a Tomb Raider.

I am still so Stalker-burned out. All the bugs and linearity and bleh. So much potential, but they didn't used it. I restarted Clear Sky about 7 or 8 times, and even with the latest patch I was unable to play through the game because of script errors. CoP was better, but at that point, the Stalker games became way too annoying to me already.

 

Won't play a new Stalker game. It would get zero motivation from me and that probably will stay a while like that.

I sure hope Clear Sky wasn't the first Stalker game you tried, because really, that one was a horribly buggy pile of...well, bugs. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't already a fan of the series, and even then I'd add a warning label.

 

Personally I greatly prefer the first one (SoC) for its atmosphere and the sense of mystery, though the third (CoP) one had vastly better mechanics (well, they basically fixed the rather broken "gun upgrades" stuff from Clear Sky). Unfortunately the mod packs I used to use on SoC (OLmod fwiw) no longer works on the latest patch (yeah, it really is that old), it did stuff like add repair to shops and allow silencer to be used on a lot of guns that they didn't work on in SoC (like the Russian ARs). Though I think Stalker Complete added some of the same stuff, I should probably look up which mods I used last time through).

 

I still remember how me and two friends were playing SoC not too long after its release and we all got slaughtered trying to take out the bandits with just a pistol, over and over again... Of the three I was the only one that actually made it past that part and continued to play the game, I don't think the others ever believed me when I told them I easily took out those bandits nowadays on hardest difficulty. Man, that first fight used to be so intense...

 

Or getting past the Cordon, the hard way, with just a pistol and a sewn off dual barrel shotgun. Hehe, so many memorable moments in that game...

 

 

http://www.lar.net/2014/12/18/leaked-the-larian-plans-for-20152016-and-beyond/

 

blah blah blah plans to release more campaigns on the Original Sin engine

Pretty sure they always said that was the plan. I'm not sure how tightly the graphical style is tied into the engine though as I personally too wouldn't mind a more "realistic" art style (that said, D:OS graphics worker perfectly fine for the game, even though I had my reservations at first).

 

I always appreciate how Swen just throws his ideas out there, few game developers are as open as Larian about what's going on on the inside and I really appreciate that.

 

 

The one element I don't like about the D:OS engine is how it limits your panning ability. It felt awkward to be constantly fiddling with the direction trying to get a decent look at the scene.

 

It's not the engine limiting it and iirc you can turn that limitation off in the settings. However D:OS was made with that limitation in mind, so turning it off and looking at a scene from the "other side" will show you a lot of empty space since no assets were placed for those angles.

http://www.lar.net/2014/12/18/leaked-the-larian-plans-for-20152016-and-beyond/

 

blah blah blah plans to release more campaigns on the Original Sin engine

Pretty sure they always said that was the plan. I'm not sure how tightly the graphical style is tied into the engine though as I personally too wouldn't mind a more "realistic" art style (that said, D:OS graphics worker perfectly fine for the game, even though I had my reservations at first).

 

I always appreciate how Swen just throws his ideas out there, few game developers are as open as Larian about what's going on on the inside and I really appreciate that.

Happy holidays from Warframe.

Played through the Warden's Keep content in my DA:O game.  First time with this DLC, and I found it underwhelming.  Some nice loot, I guess, and I appreciate the effort that went into the backstory, but the gameplay was pretty brief and more-of-the-same from the base game. 

 

I've done the Circle Tower and 2/3rds of the Redcliffe questline (order restored, but Eamon still sick).  I've also visited Denerim and picked up/completed a few minor quests there.  (And it really bothered me that I couldn't properly warn/threaten/kill the operators of the Pearl for hosting that anti-Grey-Warden honeytrap.)  But I got a reminder about what a pain in the neck those inner-city random encounters are, and I have no real desire to fight another half-dozen of those anytime soon.  So I'll stick to the countryside for the time being.

 

Some of the sidequest content has reminded me how sharp the difficulty swings can be in this game.  I cruise through the demons and undead on the main-quest missions, but checking up on some lost caravan in the woods takes me 2 reloads to avoid a full-party wipe.  (I ended up with 0 civilians saved, and Sten and Wynne lying in the dirt.)

 

Probably going to see the Dalish next.  Not sure what order I should do the Urn and Orzammar after that.  I'm going to hold off on Return to Ostagar until I have Loghain the party.

 

 

I thought most of the DLC for DA:O were pretty meagre, content-wise. Especially when compared to the ones for Fallout 3 (which was released around the same time iirc)

 

I'll be wrapping up Dragon Age Inquisition soon. I'll play Mass Effect 3 next. Should I play the first two before this?

I would strongly recommend playing them in order if it's your first play through of the series, though if you dislike the Mako in the first game I'd also recommend skipping the optional missions that use it (you know, the mineral fetch missions on random planets, though a very few of them do have somewhat interesting content

 

Like the one related to the orb you can get from the Consort

 

)

I'm dissapointed about the delay, because I want to play it... now.. But now it is going to be a nice 30'th birthday present for myself.

 

Ah, bugger, thanks for pointing out that I'll be thirty by then as well...

Plodding along in Shadow Warrior, still regularly struggling with the combo system, but since I'm playing on "normal" difficulty it's not such a big deal, though they are starting to really throw big numbers of enemies at me now.

 

I also finished the new Warframe "Tactical Alert" (basically events where you have to gimp your gear to be allowed to participate). It was the easiest yet (to the point of being trivial) and I solo'd 3 of the 5 mission runs I needed to complete it.

For any Warframers here who might be interested: I used a maxed out Saryn with a Latron Wraith without elemental mods, which resulting in a Conclave Rating of 498. Note that my Latron Wraith is a 4 Forma'd crit built one, so loosing the elemental mods wasn't a big deal.

 

I'm not upset that ME4 might be console only, I've always considered the ME games a console franchise anyway. Just means it will take me a while to get it since I wont be able to afford a console for at least a year or more.

I don't really get what the big deal is, to be honest.

 

If I lost sleep everytime some game that looked like i'd enjoy came to some system I didn't have I'd never have slept through the 90s.

 

Because a lot of people enjoyed ME3, as hard as that is for some to fathom, and suddenly placing a series they enjoyed out of their reach is a pretty dickish move ("just buy a console" is not a reasonable argument). This is entirely different from a franchise that is console exclusive, in which case I'd agree with your point.

 

 

 

I don't even care about the game, I just want that character creator.  Dammit, Korea, keep your game, just send us the character creator.  I want to make a short, fat, insanely stocky dude with a monocle and a super exaggerated cleft chin.

If that isn't EVE Online's character creator it's at least a very good copy (I feel like I've mentioned this before, is this the same game? Or is the tech going around in the East?).

Needing a break from the twitch action gameplay of Bayonetta 2 (a guy needs a change of pace after 75+ hours), I started playing Divinity: Original Sin.  I've been waiting for the Linux version to come out, which is why I haven't played it earlier, but, on a whim, I decided to see how it would run via WINE.  Lo and behold, not only does it run, it runs perfectly, even with all settings maxed out.  So, since it runs great, no need to wait for the Linux version, I can play it now, and when the Linux version does come out, I can just copy my profile and save files over and continue seamlessly (if the game does cloud sync it will do that for me automagically, but I never bothered checking if it does).  Anyway, I'm still pretty early in the game, still mucking around Cyseal, though I think I'm mostly done in this area and ready to move on.  My Source Hunters are Luciana, a cleric who's both a front line fighter and my primary healer, and Humphrey, a witch who's my all around magey dude.  For my companions, I scooped up Madora as a second front line fighter and Bairdotr as my archer plus thievery type.  I definitely like the game a lot so far, even if can be frustrating at times.  I like being able to wander into areas I have no business being, and the guards will warn me once that I probably shouldn't go there yet, but I can all the same and wind up getting obliterated (though I have won a couple battles I really had no business winning via creative use of the environment).  One big compliment I will give to the game is that it has probably the best pathfinding I've ever seen in this type of game.Things like your characters automatically avoiding spotted traps and hazardous surfaces may seem like a minor detail, but it makes the game so much less frustrating and tedious to play that it would have been if I had to babysit each character, one by one, around every trap.  Seriously, how has it taken until 2014 for a game of this type to finally get this right?  How is it that it's taken several decades of these types of games being made until someone was finally able to program pathfinding that doesn't make your characters look like complete imbeciles?

I am rather annoyed that the Linux version is still not there. The only reason I can think of that it is taking this long is because they didn't think their choice of libraries through when they started out. Which also highlights why it is a terrible idea to develop on one platform and *then* port your game instead of taking some extra time up front and building for all platforms at once...

 

 

Personally I've been playing me some Shadow Warrior (the new one), made it to chapter 9 I think, which puts me past halfway done.

 

Also made it through the new event in Warframe, was even topping my clan's leaderbords when I did it (most of them are Mastery 16-18 veterans, so yay for me ), haven't checked back since then though but I'm sure someone beat me by now (but ignorance is bliss, so I'm going to revel in my awesomeness until at least this evening )

 

 

I got bored of Far Cry 3 in about 2 days. No real motivation to go through all the sandbox stuff.

 

Steam sales have started

 

The only Far Cry I've managd to finish was the first one (twice). I doubt No 4 will be any different of the previous two (I already noticed "outposts", so..."meh")

 

On another note, Gog has been awfully quiet about Galaxy, I guess that ain't happening this year after all. They probably bit off more than they could chew by attempting to go head to head with Steam.

 

 

They are not quiet, they were testing the beta client last few weeks or even longer. You had to be participating in Witcher Adventure Game Beta or Alien vs. Predator Classic Beta.

 

Ah, maybe I should use that invite I should have for the Witcher Adventure Game, or are they just testing the multiplayer component and are only those two games available right now? Or does access to the Adventure Game beta not automatically mean access to Galaxy beta?

 

Either way I wish they'd give some more public info on their progress.

 

They put early access games on sale?

 

LoL.

Yeah...I've noticed it on others before too. I often wonder what Steam uses as a sale barometer. Time? Popularity? Sales figures? Who knows.

 

The game seems to use wolves instead of zombies. Which is fine, as long as they're not as numerous as zombies.

 

*insert rant about misrepresentation of wolves in games (and other popular media) here*

 

Anyway, added it to my wishlislt, not sure if I'll pick it up in this sale (backlog already much too long) but it does seem interesting.

 

I'm mostly keeping an eye on my wishlist games, many of which I'm not expecting "acceptable" sales prices for yet, so far I've only picked up Dust: An Elysian Tail (at -80%)

I got bored of Far Cry 3 in about 2 days. No real motivation to go through all the sandbox stuff.

 

Steam sales have started

 

The only Far Cry I've managd to finish was the first one (twice). I doubt No 4 will be any different of the previous two (I already noticed "outposts", so..."meh")

 

On another note, Gog has been awfully quiet about Galaxy, I guess that ain't happening this year after all. They probably bit off more than they could chew by attempting to go head to head with Steam.

So I am *not* playing DA:I

 

I'm still going through Wasteland 2 at my truly glacial pace. I've just settled the Rail Nomads dispute (and took care of the Rail Thieves, of course). My first character hit level 10 (Rose, I'm not counting Angela Deth) so it looks like I'll have to start thinking on where to spend those extra stat points as the rest of my characters isn't all that far behind...

 

I think I'll have to go looking for a pause option though as quite often I inadvertently trigger encounters while I'm still trying to  place my squad. It's kind of annoying at times.

 

EDIT: typos...