Hurlshort

I got a nice Federal return, but then I owed half of it to the State. Trying to figure out deductions is crazy.

That should make you happy. No matter how down you get about your life, you are always clearing the Lindsay Lohan hurdle.

This is tragic, but it does sound like law enforcement was able to isolate even more explosive devices and avoid even more deaths. The numbers are still coming in, sadly with such a high injury rate I imagine the death toll will continue to climb. Before we start pointing fingers over this senseless violence, I think this quote from Mr. Rogers is important:

I don't think I ever made it off Tortage No reason to leave Tortage, it's the best part of the game. I played 4 different classes through Tortage and it was a blast. But then I'd hit the big world and completely lose interest.

Total Recall - The recent remake, it was ok, but I didn't really dig the whole setting. The whole time I was thinking this would be cooler if they were on Mars.

You can cancel quests.

Bethesda has disappointed me in many ways over the years, but graphics have never been one of them. A leaked video is really not something you should use to make judgement, there are a lot of reasons the graphics may look lackluster.

It's not like there is any reason to lie about the save feature, if it was easy to implement, they would do it.

The game looks way better than I initially expected. With the whole iOS angle I was expecting something very old schoolish. But instead it looks like a pretty deep game. I'm not sure why they can't implement a save system, but I'm still pretty impressed with what they've done with the money.

I'm bummed about the checkpoint system. The loot system doesn't bother me all that much.

This all seems to be about DLC, was that even really something talked about in the early part of this campaign? To be honest, I rarely touch DLC anyways, so even if I was against Steam, I don't see how this would be a huge issue for me.

Heh, no such thing as a DRM free lunch.

Why is that? You can still back the game and get a DRM free version, as well as the expansion, all patches, and even mods. By doing so you aren't supporting DRM in any way, quite the opposite, you are directly supporting the developer and allowing them to circumvent what Microsoft really wants them to do.

Actually the update makes it pretty clear that only backers will receive non-DRM copies, as Microsoft seems to be making an exception for them. edit: They also say all preorders get the Steam version, not the DRM free one.

Well...that kind of makes all the pitchforks and lynch mobs headed to HBC seem a bit premature.

LC, does this project get your full approval? I'm thinking about chipping in since they are rathe close to their goal.

One cool thing about Civ 5 was that no matter how much damage you did from afar with ships and archers, eventually you needed some decent soldiers to go into the town and sieze it. I liked that system.

Yep. Even in real life, cultural genocide usually doesn't give you a great rep. Oh reputation, meh. Thought there was some happiness change or some serious penalty to it. And not genocide if you just take their cities. Cultural genocide is different from regular genocide. In Civilization, it's definitely cultural genocide to take out another group completely. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it's just a video game. But yeah, it tends to upset the other cultures.

To be fair, I'm not even sure Oby knows what this forum is for.

Yep. Even in real life, cultural genocide usually doesn't give you a great rep.

Does your employer give you these surprise tests, or some agency? Seems like a pretty weird thing to do to an employee.

Hrm, Dungeon Siege was not exactly high prose, and Krondor was based in another author's universe. I'm skeptical about this project. I'd be more likely to back him writing for a game than a book, tbh.

Apparently EA disputed the numbers and said EA Montreal is not closing down, so I wouldn't take it completely serious.

Hit level 68 in Lord of the Rings Online, and I'm really enjoying the whole Isengard story area. Looking forward to putting some hurt on Saruman's forces. I've been helping this Stag tribe out and they've got some great looking gear.

I'd like some more clarification on the patches though, they might still be made available via non-steam outlets. They only clearly state that fan content and DLC will require Steam in the future. A patch is a fairly easy thing to make available, you don't need to worry about transactions, and unlike fan content there should not be that many patches. Using Steam for the DLC is a no brainer, really. It's a marketplace.