Enoch

I'm wondering how this thread has survived for so long without being canned as a 'spamming topic.' And I'm hoping that I passed the bar exam.

Politicians aren't the only ones who don't want a draft. The commanders of the armed services are very much against it, too. Conscripts, by and large, make poor soldiers, and nobody wants to be in a firefight counting on a guy who's only there to avoid going to prison.

The new Civ 4 expansion is out this week. Anybody here picked it up? I might in the next few days, and I'd appreciate any impressions. Here's a pretty in-depth fan preview.

Thelonious Monk - Well, You Needn't I love how, at the end of Monk's first solo, he concludes his piano playing with some tension, but resolves it vocally by calling out Coltrane's name in tones that bring it back to the root.

Charles Mingus - All the Things You Could be by Now if Sigmund Freud's Wife Was Your Mother. The tune is, of course, based on the changes of the standard "All the Things You Are."

Might as well...

What did they say the minimum specs would be again? I recall thinking that my processor wasn't going to be up to snuff, but that I might be able to run it anyway because I had extra RAM and vid card muscle.

I think the game is worth playing (especially at the price it probably goes for today), but mostly for the wonkish statistical character development. If you've played Wizardry 6 or 7, some of the plot & backstory will be interesting, too. Apart from picking sides in the factional struggles, there isn't much in the area of roleplaying. Some of it goes on without your involvement, though. When you create your characters, along with a voice, you choose a personality. There's a decent selection. The game uses these to provide some intra-party chatter that is actually pretty amusing.

My impression of the game. Pros: Well balanced, detail-intensive character and party creation and development. Lots of fun classes, races, spells, and skills to mess around with. If you like micro-managing party and character advancement, you'll have a blast. Has some interesting factional politics. Also, it looks nice for its time. Cons: It's a combat hack that bogs down occasionally. The phase-based combat system goes really slow when there are lots of combatants. A large % of your time with the game will be waiting for your opponents to finish moving. Difficulty scaling is inconsistent. Has the sci-fi/fantasy crossover (like Might & Magic) that turns some people off. Overall, it's worth playing, but be prepared to get frustrated with the slow combat and the occasional large jumps in opponent difficulty. IIRC, my party was Valkrie, Monk, Ranger, Gadgeteer, Alchemist, Mage.

Anybody else surprised/disappointed that the link wasn't anything at least faintly dirty?

I saw McCoy play live @ Cape May, NJ a few years back. He's still going strong! And his trio included a damn fine young bass player whose name escapes me at the moment. Duke Ellington Orchestra - Kinda Dukish / Rockin' in Rhythm (Live in Paris, 1963)

I'd play at least one full campaign before adding any mods or expansions. The Brutii are probably the best family to start with. I find the Julii boring (fighting barbarians, all you really have to do is stand still while they charge you, get tired, and rout). The Scipii are fun, but I'd wait until you have some experience seiging walled cities and dealing with elephants before trying them out. As the Brutii, the chief challenge is dealing Greece and Macedon, both of which field a lot of phalanx units and light cavalry. The Greek provinces you'll be conquering are also very rich in trade, and frequently have Cretan Archers to hire (easily the best of the commonly found mercenaries).

I haven't listened to many of Zorn's recordings, but when I was an undergrad, I played some Cobra at a few of the student-faculty jam sessions. It was insanely fun to play, but I don't know how enjoyable it would be to listen to. I probably should investigate some of Zorn's work outside of the "game" pieces, though. Duke Ellington's Orchestra (circa 1940) - Concerto for Cootie.

Reminded me of this ESPN opinion piece. Excerpt:

Comic books? I thought this was going to be about the PBS documentary series!

From the description of Zombies: I understand the desire for order when the zombie horde takes an afternoon nap, but why should adventurers fear their "sheet numbers?"

Sonny Rollins - I'm an Old Cowhand.

Just ate a dinner I cooked: Boneless chicken breasts (I made 4; leftovers are good), coated in a blend of olive oil, minced garlic (6 or so cloves), chopped fresh parsley, hot sauce, salt & pepper. Browned 'em on both sides and then roasted in the oven for 15 mins. Also had a baked potato and some asparagas. Excellent.

I wouldn't put it that way-- IWD2 was still a slash-fest (especially when you get past Targos). The advantage that the sequel has is a greater ratio of interesting battles to repetitive hacks. Just when you're getting sick of fighting the same group of barbarians or goblins over and over, the game gives you something fun, like the battle for the bridge or the drums outside the goblin fort. Unique, interesting fights were few and far between in IWD1. (Granted, IWD2's general thrown-together-ness probably make it an inferior game. But it was less tedious than the first.)

The TRON Deadly Discs reference made my day. I still remember the very satisfying de-res effect when you vanquished your opponents. Hard game, though.

IIRC, my original IWD party was: F, F/C, F/T, D, B, I. (that's Druid, Bard, Illusionist there at the end) I've never gotten very far in attempts to replay it. Once I'm on my 3rd or 4th identical pack of cold wights, I usually decide that I have better things to do with my time.

I'm studying for the (Virginia) Bar exam. In 3 weeks, I'll be taking the Bar exam. Then I'll be moving and starting my new job. Not a fun summer.

Forget the stills-- the real question here is who will be doing the VO. You simply can't have an Obsidian Forum movie without Ron Perlman to voice the intro. How will you ensure that everybody has the proper accents? After all, we don't want our Swedes to sound just like our Danes. Will Jeremy Soule doing the score, or did you get Inon Zur instead? Inquiring minds want to know!!

Given the history of both square and the series itself, the name is VERY fitting. The reasoning behind it was if it didn't sell, it would have been square's last game.. hence the name. ...or so I hear. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Huh. I always figured that the name came about because the first one had that whole nonsensical time-circle plotline.