Cantousent

Yeah, I've known a lot of folks to revile the ESRB, but I think we'd be far, far worse if the government were compelled to create an actual body to oversee the games. ...And that's taking into account that the ESRB has some terrible practices.

We're installing new countertops and I'm waiting for the contractor to do the measurements. What a yutz. The damned people are all the same. Later, I'll probably head to the store and start a fresh batch of beer and potato stew since the weather is getting a bit colder. Nothing warms the belly better than warm bread and hot stew with meat, potatoes, and veggies. mmm MMMM MMMMM

Good Lord, Vis. It's a setting, not a novel. They have to have some leeway to change things as they move through editions. Maybe they can remove some of the suck from the setting. Probably not. It'll probably suck anyhow. I mean, you've made your point about scrapping the whole FR. I agree with you on that count, btw. They still have the right to change the setting in pretty much any way they want. ...And if you're just now accusing WotC, TSR, or <insert any company in charge of or charged to use the FR setting here> of resorting to these measures in order to write a story, then you haven't been paying attention over the years. Hell, who am I to judge? Obviously the Realms setting is extremely popular with folks. Even if they lose a number of fans with this alleged change, they've still got a viable setting that may, over time, increase the fanbase.

Ran around the desert shooting at folks. I know this might sound a little crazy, but I'm saddened that I don't have more bruises. I feel like I haven't played hard enough at all. I had two mutual kills and only one solid kill all day. Even that wasn't exciting. Two of my teammates had someone pinned and I stepped out of my hiding spot and shot the last enemy in the back. All in all, a very poor showing today. Still, I had fun. No impressive swollen bleeding marks, I guess, but a couple of nice shiners.

I'm glad that they're killing off some of the big names. The FR setting is a fat, bloated pig. It waddles around freely because so many people like a fatty diet with lots of pork, but it would not only be healthier on a diet, it would taste a hell of lot better also.

Safe travels. That goes for the rest of you swine. Even you, army boy.

Well, just in case you change your mind, my sluggish friend, we play in Overton. That just north of Vegas at the north end of Valley of Fire. I wouldn't play without gear, though. Painball actually hurts. I actually wear relatively light clothing. There is a few reasons for this. First of all, I'm a big guy. You'd probably be suprised at my speed on the field (at least most people seem to be) but I tend to get hotter than hell. The other reason is, I tend to play better if I know it's going to hurt if I get hit. I think that's true of a lot of things. I'm willing to get hit, and I'm even willing to charge (a lot really) but nothing teaches careful planning and execution like having a "visceral" consequence. hahahahaha Sorry, inside joke. So, come play and take pot shots at me. I'm tall, so I should be an easy target. As for what I'm doing NOW. I'm getting ready to get this USB headset and mic to work on my mom's computer so the wife, sister, and I can play some WoW with some guildies.

Demo's can often be misleading about a game, but Vol's right in that the publisher or developer decides what to include in a demo. If Crysis showcases a bad area, then it's the publisher's fault.

I assume you mean within vegas. I'll meet you there comrade. Time and place? We don't actually play in Vegas, but I'll check on the location and post it here. If you want to join, I'm game. We need smaller, faster folks who can shoot big guys like me. It makes the game more bruising. Do you have gear?

I went over my paintball gear today. We're heading out to Henderson tomorrow and I'll be paintballing out in the desert on Friday. Fun. Yes, it does tend to render me black with tinges of blue and purple, but it's FUN, damn it.

Everyone wants to play WoW. I haven't had much time to play other games. I have, however, finished all the advanced maps on Portal. Some of them were a pain, but the puzzles aren't all that hard. I never felt compelled to ask around about how to defeat any of them, at least. I've finished episodes one and two. Portal gives me the creeps. The turrets talking in a sweet female voice saying things like, "no hard feelings," and "I don't blame you," make me think the game designers really ARE trying to screw with our heads. Anyhow, having finished Episode 2, I'm all about putting a few slugs into Aperature Science. I'm almost done with a new game of HL2. I accidently set it on easy, which makes the game almost surreal. It's like playing on God mode. However, if you slip on one of the beams and fall a few hundred yards, you're still going to die. :Cant's wry grin icon: Other than that, I've done enough battlegrounds for my hunter in WoW to earn some neat stuff, including several blues and an epic.

That's the way I prefer my campaigns. I make players recite poetry or sing or hum or some such in order to simulate music. It's usually good for some laughs during the game. Skills add a whole new facet to the game, and it's a shame to think some folks shun them. I don't mind 4th edition trying to get a handle on skills, because it's a tough concept to teach a lot of players. ...But if skills are important, skill based classes get a huge bump. Not that it overpowers them. It just evens the playing field.

The idea that '80s culture is worth revisiting makes me feel ill. Back off, Barrister Boy. The '80s were great.

The trick is to find a way to make it work. You should also shore up any weaknesses with companion selection. If you're a mad buffer, then buff someone. Did you manage to defeat the final boss yet?

Kind of like having to find a water chip or something, huh?

My take on the Spirit Eater curse is that it failed dismally at the one stated goal from pre-release. It does not prevent resting. I included this in my post mortem before I left Obsidz. However, I do believe that it adds an extra layer for the player. No matter what, the player is forced to come up with methods to deal with the curse. There are some methods that certainly have a "cheesy" feel to them, and some of these methods essentially inoculate the PC from any harm from the curse. However, it is still an added layer to gameplay. If that were all, I would say the Spirit Eater aspect of the game had failed. There's something else I liked about the curse, however, that made it a great addition to the gameplay. It has a lot of abilities. Some of the abilities are only there to help the player deal with the curse, that's true. Other abilities, however, like Eternal Rest, Spiritual Evisceration, and Bestow Life Force, allow players to experience the game in different ways. I don't think the concept is perfectly translated into the game. ...And, for a while, I thought Eric Fenstermaker, the fellow who designed the feature (at least as I understood it), was a complete yutz. In the end, though, I was impressed by Eric's work on the game. He's also the fellow who came up with the wonderful sign at the Academy. Overall, he did a great job and I expect he'll go on to some fine design work. Lest you think I'm kissing his ass, I have no doubt that the vast majority of Obsidianites don't visit this board and fewer visit this thread. I wouldn't be particularly gentle with them if they did. So, I agree with some of the complaints about the Spirit Eater curse. I can even sympathize with some of the complaints with which I don't agree. That doesn't change the fact that I thought the curse added something to the story and the game.

I took the Vampire fights on as soon as we could reach them. I still believe that they present probably the toughest fight in the critical path. Here are some things that certainly help in that fight. First, make sure that you've got your people in good positions. You don't want the vamps to surround each member completely. Second of all, you have to think of party composition. Are you soloing the Vamps with a mage? If so, it will be tougher. If you've got support, then no problem. Are you set at highest difficulty? In that case, you'll have to be super careful with the sorts of spells that will do the heavy lifting. If you want the easy win, you'll get the vamps around your caster(s) in a big group and then do the now infamous Vampiric Feast ritual. It's epic, which means it can't be interupted and spell resistance doesn't mean a damned thing. If you don't have it or don't want to rely on it, then Gfted1's idea of the mass heal is good. You could put some summons in the room to provide targets for the enemy. (not that summons will do much other than draw fire for a short time, but a short time is all you need.) If you haven't taken your spell penetration feats, then SR can be a problem in certain fights throughout the game. If you've maxed Spell Penetration, then the majority of your spells should penetrate resistance. With that in mind, you could try to attrit them with AoE DoT spells. You could buff the hell out of your best fighter and try to beat them down. Keep us posted as to how you solved the problem, Atreides.

It's been a while since I've PvPed in a first person shooter, but by the time we have the match, I don't plan on having my ass handed to me by anyone. Well, I've just joined, I guess. I clicked on join at least. I'm going to start Team Fortress to look around. I haven't played a TF game yet.

Tell me what I need to do to join this Obsidian crushing force? I'm game.

Bokishi is right. A lot of what I had just plain looks better in Vista. I guess you could call me a convert to the "Bok way." Like Vista 64 I do!

Yeah, that's the way of it, isn't it? If...

This is something I was going to put in my spellcaster thread, which I will revisit someday, but I always have certain defensive spells cast at all times. There are some, like Mind Blank, that I don't run constantly, but cast at the hint of trouble.

I dunno. Still looks like it would run hot. I'm impressed, though. If heat weren't such an issue, I wouldn't mind a classy looking mod like that.

Interesting. I've already hitched my horse to the 8800, so I'll be able to tell you first hand how it looks.

Actually, in all the discussion about the Spirit Eater mechanic, this was something I suggested. Not that QA had a lot of sway, and I had virtually none, but I suggested that the spirit eater concept be confined to the story and not be a mechanic in the game. In the end, I rather enjoyed it, but I knew some folks would still hate it.