Gorth

...

I upgraded my IE, but since I never use it... (Firefox user here). Might have to give it a try with IE. One thing I did notice was that I could kiss my desktop gadgets goodbye. It messed them up completely and they turned all pink (yes, *pink*). There was a fix for it do download from Microsoft which basically just removes your desktop gadget service altogether.

Just a routine check in to see that things stays civil...

Moved to Off Topic section. Not really Obsidian (the company, employees or games) specific. Besides, more people are likely to see it here

Ok, got to actually fight a match. Won too. Ultimately, I see my interest in this going the way of ground based PVP though. 3 more matches and I've "had my fill" most likely. It should appeal to the PVP enthusiasts though, as it is very slick and very polished.

...and I picked up my parcel on my way to work today. Nice Large poster on quality paper, t-shirt and a little "diploma/certificate" type document complete with a little wax seal/stamp (most likely plastic, I know).

Maybe you have it remapped to the ejection seat? No, no idea really. It's supposed to turn into a missile lock type thingy if you hold it down and keep it locked (like the photon torpedo thing in the old space missions).

Only made a quick play through the tutorial. Controls are going to take some time getting used to. A shame there's no joystick/throttle support. Pilot suits were nice... No longer any need to save up a few thousand fleet commendations for the TIE Fighter suit

What, no mention of Rundstedt or Manstein yet? I'll have to do some digging for links and pics Too easy to pick "modern" generals though, as they will have relatively much media coverage. There were some outstanding generals in the Napoleonic era, Spanish conquistadors that subjugated continents with very little resources at their disposal, generals pulling off unlikely victories during the various European wars (100 years, 80 years, 7 years etc.), ancient "Greek" generals fighting off overwhelming odds... each era requiring different skill sets (from a strong sword arm and charisma over political nous and backstabbing skills to just sheer chess champion like strategic thinking skills).

Since those patches usually run from 19:00 to 2:00 at night, I didn't really get to try it. Might give it a go when I get home today. Ultimately, I just worry that it'll end up as the "ordinary" PVP. A group that plays it to the exclusion of all else, a group (which I belong to) who try it out on casual basis for a while and then forget about it and the last group who couldn't care less. Only Bioware and their metric gathering guys knows the actual numbers if they monitor unique accounts participation in activities. Trying to motivate myself to complete the Makeb story line, but honestly, I've forgotten why I'm there and what I needed those Isotope 5 mines for...

Got my latest purchases downloaded. Went as far as trying to start Dark Souls before uninstalling it again and wrote it off as a complete loss. Starts up in windowed mode (any menus if it got any, outside the visible area), warns not to switch off because it uses save points (WTF? This is the 21st century) and the single dooming feature of insisting that I create a new GFWL account... gave it the middle finger and got rid of it again. At least it was dirt cheap. Hope I got luckier with Mortal Kombat and Enslaved

Hasn't GWFL been discontinued? I've been wondering what would happen if I ever reinstalled Fallout3 (not New Vegas). GWFL was a major reason for it staying off my hard drive. Edit: Just checked, it goes offline July 2014. So it will still pester the world for another 6-7 months.

Very nice. Music by Mark Morgan? Consider me intrigued Some weird dollar amounts for the pledges. Is that a currency conversion thing from a different currency? Not asking for outrageous money though, so I took the dive (Plunge? Whatever).

Ah, as mentioned, yet to try the operations thing Does the set bonus follow the armour or the mods for those? Completely tangential, but getting the hang of playing with head set, trying out RaidCall. Sure makes for some faster reaction times just in the few flashpoints and encounters I've tried with it. Edit: Do operations drop any decent tank gear? There sure are some gaps (bizarre stat combos) at the com vendors.

Amazon.com going to deploy unmanned drones? You never know, *you* may become the target of an unmanned drone some day. "Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, is testing unmanned drones to deliver goods to customers, Chief Executive Jeff Bezos says. The drones, called Octocopters, could deliver packages weighing up to 2.3kg to customers within 30 minutes of them placing the order, he said. However, he added that it could take up to five years for the service to start. The US Federal Aviation Administration is yet to approve the use of unmanned drones for civilian purposes." Slightly worrying actually, next thing you know, you are going to be targeted by spam drones...

Sort of apropos... Apple buys Topsy Yeah, they got more than just a bunch of twits... "Apple has bought social media data analytics firm, Topsy Labs, which specialises in using data from Twitter to track customer sentiment. Topsy is one of the few firms to have access to Twitter's entire data stream. It has recently created a searchable database of all tweets sent - more than 400 billion - since Twitter's launch." Retention is better than some people seem to think.

So, "tjeeksentmeehai-yee"? I think I better stick to familiar languages (insert Monty Python skit here with Hungarian/English dictionary)

I'm fairly sure they've changed that, so the stuff you buy with classic coms has the set bonus follow the mods, not the shells (so you can rip out the mods and put in your favourite moddable armour). Set bonus only seem to be for the level 50 (classic) stuff though, not the higher level (basic, elite and ultimate) gear. Yeah, update is today isn't it? That means another day ripped out of our subscription and servers unavailable all day. Did the math once, as APAC customers we do get cheated out of 10% of our subscription by an average 3 days unavailable per month (two fortnightly updates and the mandatory emergency hotfix after at least one of them).

One (probably the only now) perk of pre-ordering the Rise of the Hutt Cartel. You got a portable trainer that you can whip out just about anywhere anytime. No need to visit the fleet or major city for it, you can do it in the field. If you ever see anyone standing next to a "Holo Hutt", they probably pre-ordered that expansion As for Flashpoints, they are my second favourite pastime after solo adventuring class stories. Mind you, I still haven't tried one of the available operations, but I hope to correct that some day (having finally found a decent guild, not big but I like the people there). I've completely dropped PVP and new toons created the last 6 months didn't even bother with the introduction to Warzones quest. I'm curious about the Galactic Starfighter thing though, at least enough to give it a spin and see if I like it better than Warzones (never tried the new smaller arenas).

Only tangentially related to power supplies, but my UPS seems to be working fine. Got it tested not that long ago when a thunderstorm hit my corner of the map and power was gone for a few minutes. The beeping was annoying though.

Knowing what I know today, I would not start a new legacy without an Artifice/Cybertech duo when it comes to crafting skills. Were you f2p, "preferred status" or a subscriber? It's worth the investment to get all 3 crew skills for each character (even if saving up and buying it off the GTN). Between the artifice and cybertech, you can turn out armour, modification and enhancement mods on an assembly line for your guys (and later their companions) without being dependent on those planetary commendations. If you play Sith/Jedi classes, even better as you get the saber hilts from Artifice too. My "main" guy is churning out blue "66" mods for companions now, as a couple of other characters are approaching level 53 and that means all their companions (about 5 companions for each character) are going to need at least decent gear. He also makes the artifact versions of those for my toons to have some decent "starter" gear when reaching level 53 (after which, they have to earn gear the hard way). My "Artifice" guy was lagging a bit behind, but has finally caught up and got his archeology skill up to speed so he can start creating the "fun" stuff and attempt to learn new schematics in the high level range. I don't know if it's an unfortunate side effect of double xp, but having spent most of the Sunday playing flashpoints for various characters, I could fill a post with horror stories, including level 55 characters who have no clue whatsoever about what flashpoints are about. We had kick no less than 2 DPS in the one and same flashpoint. Didn't believe our eyes when the second was a spitting image of the first. Luckily third time was the charm or however the saying goes.

Ironically, since it's on Youtube, you are going to be monitored and logged as having accessed that video, helping both Google and whoever can gain access to their data, to profile you

How do you guys pronounce "Csikszentmihalyi"? Doesn't exactly flow easy off the tongue Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Csikszentmihalyi R'lyeh...

Hard to say, as I've yet to play Kaon under Siege and Lost Island. Even now, selecting the entire category in groupfinder, it seems to hate those two and they never "pop". I think some day i'm just going to queue specifically for them. Even though Black Talon/Esseles having a disproportionate amount of dialogue choices so early in the game, they are probably my favourites. Heavy on story elements and just the combat necessary. Directive 7 and Cadmimu aren't too bad either (the latter two having some interesting boss fights). The whole Maelstroem Prison / Jedi Prisoner thing would/could have been good if they hadn't messed up the story towards the end .

Spam...