Hurlshort

I'm pretty sure I have all my companions at this point, but what I'm saying is you aren't thinking about this as an MMO. You aren't really halfway through the game, because the game doesn't end at level 50. There is no real rush to max out the companions, it can be a long term project. I guess if you are playing it like a single player game and you want to be done in a month, then that could be a rub, but if that's the case I would just focus on one companion. edit in response to your edit: It's really just one aspect of the post-50 play, I'd imagine. Not really a big hook, but something to do nonetheless. To be honest I don't plan on hitting 50 too soon, I'd rather slow it down and work on some other characters.

I actually think the companion points are going a bit fast. I've got one companion over 6k and one at 4k, and I'm at level 31. The companion gifts have done very little of the raising there, mostly its because of questing. You probably don't really want all your companions maxed out when you hit 50, because it gives you something to do when you hit the max level. At least that's what I assume Bioware is thinking.

A society without some degree of faith over reason would be super lame.

I dig it.

Don't forget folks, MMO's are about the ride, not the destination. Take your time enjoying each level. Even the best MMO developers struggle to get new content out quickly (Turbine used to manage something new every 3 months) so the slower you take it, the easier it is to stay interested in it.

Spider, you might not be getting much of the companion points, but you are getting all those social points. I have no idea what they do, but it makes me feel good when they pop up. Did I mention how much I love choosing the douchebag lines when I'm playing with my wife? She's always trying to be nice and helpful, and I come across as a total jerk, it's awesome.

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.