Hurlshort

I get all my companion gifts by sending them on missions. I've trained them in investigation. I never even noticed that you get xp for giving gifts, I'm just trying to woo my cold fish female partner.

I haven't grinded, or done flashpoints, or most of the heroics, and I still find myself at the right level range. I did notice that I was about a level short for Tatooine (I heard you want to be 25 for a speeder on that planet, which was very true), so I went back to Taris and finished the Bonus series, and that pushed me well into the range. Do a couple space missions if you find yourself a level short, they give a surprising xp boost, they are short, and they can be a nice detour. I've only done about 3 of them, but I found they helped me jump a level.

They usually are. The first 6 weeks are really just poops, boobs, and naps.

One night is 12 hours long (dusk til dawn). The stuff I did in the main story seemed to take about 2 or 3 hours, tops. Thank goodness, way too many of these games drag the main storyline out beyond good reason. A ten hour main story is perfect, going over that is unnecessary, just like a movie over two hours. It's great that they supply all the side stuff so those who want more out of the game can do so without the game dragging. Assassin's Creed is also a great example of a game that dragged.

I read the Hunger Games trilogy. It was better than expected, kind of like The Giver, but with a bit more teenage angst.

Give it up Boo, you know you want to join us

I've got the decorations away, but I haven't figured out what to do with my outside lights. I guess I'll take them down next weekend.

Well it was all mocapped physically (the kid being Seth Green... they actually re-recorded all of his dialogue) First off, they never should have ditched Seth Green's voice, even if it doesn't sound exactly like a kid, it's a memorable voice that stands out. Secondly, the mocap stuff seems like a bad idea altogether. Why do an animated film at all then? Animated films should be stylized and artistic, this just looked creepy. It doesn't seem like Disney will make that mistake again. They took a gigantic bath on it.

Yeah, Flashpoints have fallen by the wayside for me, I did the first one but I'm just too busy enjoying al the quests at this point. Plus it can be tough to get a large chunk of time without distractions in my household.

My kids are watching Mars Needs Moms" right now, which is a Disney animated film. Apart form the terrible title, it has the most awkward looking faces I've seen in a movie in awhile. It looks like Oblivion. I guess it costs a ton to make and bombed, yikes.

Good game, I was expecting a GTA clone but this game it's completely crazy and brilliant. I can't tell if the folk at Volition are geniuses or morons (guess that makes them hipsters) but this game it's awesome. It's good to ear you are enjoying it! I went into Saints Row 2 with a similar expectation, thinking it was just going to be a GTA clone. But it is a masterful satire piece, and I've found I stuck with SR2 way longer than GTA4. So far SR3 has not disappointed, I imagine I'll be playing it for a long time to come.

Yep, here is the link: http://www.sidmeierspirates.com/ Technically it's not that new anymore, 2005, but I played it a few months ago and it still looks pretty solid. Looks like it's out on the iPad, that's interesting. I loved it, I thought it was a great update on the original.

Played a bit of Saints Row 3 last night, its awesome and an insane, just like the previous iteration. I modified a car, bought some real estate, put on some new clothes, got a new tattoo, and used an electrified sledgehammer to blow up a car. It was a fun hour of gameplay. I need to find a plastic surgeon though, my character looks like a gorilla.

Huge news! This may be the one developer that can really pull off a modern Xcom. If they can do a modern update, like they did with Pirates a few years back, I'll be happy as a clam.

Good one Cutlock! Fallout Online, what a kidder.

I have two games from 2011 (Batman: AC and Saints Row 3) that I haven't even gotten around to yet, but I can give this list thing a try. 1. SW:TOR - Pretty easy choice, I paid for the overly expensive CE edition and everything. I imagine I will be playing this one for a couple years to come. 2. Deus Ex:HR - A pleasant surprise, it really drew me in, and I even took a day off work to play it. 3. MLB 11 The Show - Another solid entry in the fantastic baseball series. 4. Rift - A surprisingly solid MMO that I put a lot of hours into. If it wasn't for TOR, I might still be at it. 5. Battlefield 3 - This game is great, but the real test will be if I still play it in a couple years. I can't really play shooters for long stretches of time, but an hour or two a week is nice. 6. Mafia 2 - Pretty solid game. 7. Skyrim - It had some charm, but I lost interest earlier than expected. I will probably go back to it. I think thats it for me, really. I didn't enjoy Dragon Age 2. I think Saints Row 3 will definitely end up on the 2011 list, as will Batman, but right now I'm too busy with TOR.

Yeah, I think I sided with the aliens, and then the sister ended up convincing the brother that it is best to rebuild with the aliens as partners. It was a bit unclear in the options I had available, but the resolution was good.

Huh, I ended up convincing them to share the land together.

There really are 8 different storylines here, even though there is a bit of overlap. I am not surprised that some will have vastly different opinions on the story because of that. I didn't get into the BH story when I played it in beta. Alternatively, I've enjoyed almost every step of my trooper storyline up to this point.

Feel free to pass on my Sith Inquisitor's name if either of you need help. Although I have to say, the space station is a big circle, and has a good map. How do you get lost on it?? My wife doesn't really play games. I think the elevator buttons are her problem, and figuring out which one to take. She also isn't the most patient person in the world.

I'm glad to hear everyone is enjoying it, I thought it was something special when I was testing it. I'm curious what the folks who dislike MMO's in general around here think about it, but they probably aren't playing it yet. I'm almost level 30, but now that I'm back to work I won't be moving nearly as fast. My goal right now is to finish up act 1 on my trooper to unlock the legacy system, and then I'll spend some time playing with other classes. I haven't given any time to my sith warrior, but that will change soon. My wife actually has an inquisitor up to level 11, but apparently she is lost on the space station and doesn't know where to go. I'll have to help her out later

Mission Impossible 4 - It was pretty good, the supporting cast was very strong this time around. I think if you liked the other ones, you won't find much to disagree with.

I really enjoy sending my companions out for Investigation missions. They bring back cool companion gifts. I've stalled out a bit on Armstech, I have scavenging up too high and I don't get the needed stuff easily. I can do grey missions, but it still comes in at a trickle. I will probably just stick with Investigation and scavenging going forward, and maybe sell stuff on the market. I actually have yet to even look at the auction house.

I rode a hot air balloon around Tatooine this morning. It was pretty slow, but the two datacrons at the end were worth it. There was a Sith guy with us, and he missed one of the ledges and didn't get the last datacron though. Yikes, that was a lot of time to spend and miss out on one.

We had a great three days in San Francisco. Tuesday we went to The Presidio, which was fun to look around but not much was open. Wednesday we spent around Macy's and all the shopping areas, we picked up a few items to keep the wife happy. Today we hit the wharves, eating crab and clam chowder on the waterfront. We also got sundaes at Ghiradelli Square. The weather held up nicely, and we had a good time using the ferries, buses, and trains. It was a very crowded week, but the spikes I installed on the stroller helped us clear a path. Tomorrow we head home.