What are you playing now?

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Tomb Raider: Underworld

[CoM_Solaufein]

IWD. Just started the quests related to Kuldahar.

[Gorth]

Splitting my time a bit between Tombraider: Underworld and X3: Terran Conflict. After this weekend, there won't be any gaming for me for about a month though

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Having finished HotU it seems to predate on some Torment, actually. The Planetar = almost like the Deva. Twist on how Mephistoles and the PC were tied, and the ways we can confront him in the end = Transcendant One. Party members wracked with guilt = Torment cast. Lone sisters anchored in a place waiting for someone = Deionarra and Rave, without the depth. Breaking some preconceptions about planar and devil hierarchy = Sigil and Planescape in general.

 

This isn't necessarily bad, of course; just surprised where Bioware seems to have gone for some inspiration. Things that rocked:

 

*Cast was much more vibrant and less annoying.

*Act 2 was very good all around. Locations were pretty fun and so were most of the quests.

*Combat was a lot less lethargic.

*Having to replay one or two areas of the game with the Grappling Hook to reach previously inaccessible chests. Actually, I saw the areas but didn't bother going there. But the idea isn't bad.

*I was surprised I could kill the Thiefling in the bar to get the Horn immediately rather than playing an obnoxious card game (something that my Dwarven FT/WM/DD couldn't quite handle with low Wis) and otherwise do several evil things (betraying the Seer halfway through the 1st Act, though it kinda made everything else prior to it pointless).

 

 

Things that disappointed:

 

*Knock it off with the Drow already.

*Female Drow with a whip. No, no male teenager fantasy, no siree.

*Stop shoving Aribeth everyfrigginwhere. Also, it was cute how you could tell Aribeth you loved her and still get endgame nookie with the dark elf who loved you. Yeah, that worked out fine in JE as well... NOT.

*Having to pay with gold to learn True Names. To be honest, I was hoping they went along the lines of "in order to learn of someone, you must give of yourself first", followed by having the PC give off his essence (stats) like we did with Irenicus in BG2. Think I'm gonna exploit that...

*While there are some interesting areas, like the Mimic section, it's still annoying that these feel terribly out of place and - worse - mandatory.

*Too much phat loot to decide on proper equipment set up. Also, since I couldn't wear Valen's flail, I couldn't equip it and thus improve it at the Forge.

 

 

Otherwise much better than the OC and SoU, though SoU had one or two highlights in some quests.

 

Also going through the Fell Wood in IWD2. By going through I mean round and round. But still having a blast.

 

I wish ToEE worked on my laptop :/

[Diogo Ribeiro]

IWD. Just started the quests related to Kuldahar.

 

GO GO HALFLING FIGHTER

[Gromnir]

okie, it is called the terracotta soldier aka the "dragon blade."

 

Fighter 12, Weapon Master 7, RDD 10, Bard 1

 

i tinkered with it a bit because, as i said, i don't like disarm/iimproved disarm and this build lists an early feat of luck of heroes or something like improved unarmed strike. i took power attack and then cleave and great cleave instead, and pushed off able learner to a later level which resulted in some skill sacrifices as well. i sacrificed on spot and spellcraft i think (going off memory here), and perhaps even tumble (it seems broken, IMO). oh, and i gave my self two more CON points than listed, trading from STR.

 

taks

 

rdd is very useful for level 30 non-caster builds. there is a cap on bab, so fact that rdd gets medium bab progression not hurt in long run. good saves, and stat boosts, plus some nice immunities to boot... but you gotta stick it out for all 10 levels to get immunities. am not a fan o' rdd with non-epic builds or casters... but perhaps we ain't lookig at it right.

 

HA! Good Fun!.

[Calax]

Resistance 2, Dead Space got shelved because of lack of interest. I think this is because the creators of Dead space didn't put enough emphasis on the story, or they didn't tell it correctly. Most of the story is optional, with you learning exactly what happened on the ship by viewing logs and listening to audio recordings of the previous crew. If you don't pay attention to this it seems like the story is simply "investigate anomaly, disaster strikes, survive" with a few other things thrown in that don't really get explained without the extra stuff.

 

I think it should be a rule that the story in the game should be told through the narrative of the gameplay. Plot shouldn't be relegated to a backup position where major plot points could be missed. Instead if you're going to have a little collection minigame have the collectibles fill in the background of the universe rather than the main plot.

[Jaesun]

Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption

[Kaftan Barlast]

X3: Terran Conflict.

 

 

You actually play it? When does it get fun? I have a big phat M6 ship and I can blast most enemies to smithereens but everything is so clunky and outright inconvenient that its more furstrating than amusing.

[Krookie]

I think it should be a rule that the story in the game should be told through the narrative of the gameplay. Plot shouldn't be relegated to a backup position where major plot points could be missed. Instead if you're going to have a little collection minigame have the collectibles fill in the background of the universe rather than the main plot.

 

I read somewhere when the game was still being developed that Redwood Shores (developer) wanted the player to feel as if they were actually there. Nothing's really handed to you in Dead Space (story wise). It's an investigative game, you gotta be willing to look around a little if you want to find out whats going on. If you keep playing, even without finding/reading logs, you'll still get the story. If the curiosity isn't there I could see why you'd want to stop.

[Calax]

I think it should be a rule that the story in the game should be told through the narrative of the gameplay. Plot shouldn't be relegated to a backup position where major plot points could be missed. Instead if you're going to have a little collection minigame have the collectibles fill in the background of the universe rather than the main plot.

 

I read somewhere when the game was still being developed that Redwood Shores (developer) wanted the player to feel as if they were actually there. Nothing's really handed to you in Dead Space (story wise). It's an investigative game, you gotta be willing to look around a little if you want to find out whats going on. If you keep playing, even without finding/reading logs, you'll still get the story. If the curiosity isn't there I could see why you'd want to stop.

Well that's just it. I was I believe about half way through the game and had no real compelling reason to continue other than "OMG I can cut these creatures limbs off!" If you make it an investigative story at least move the story faster than a glacier.

[Tel Aviv]

MGS4. I feel bad because literally everyone but Snake got some (even Hal).

[taks]

Also going through the Fell Wood in IWD2. By going through I mean round and round. But still having a blast.

i still remember the comments over at black isle when this game was released and people made it to the fell wood. "no way, no how, should this map have ever been included!" oh what a pain it was if you didn't have wilderness lore. i do this time. of course, i also have scads of cheating abilities now, too, which i only exploit when the game cheats!*

 

I wish ToEE worked on my laptop :/

cringe... be glad it doesn't.

 

taks

 

* as with all IE games, the RNG is terminally broken. you'll be in a fight in which you far outclass your opponent and suddenly they score several crits in a row. grrr. CTRL+R, hehe.

[taks]

am not a fan o' rdd with non-epic builds or casters... but perhaps we ain't lookig at it right.

that's definitely the problem with that build since it's strength really becomes apparent when SoZ is ending. i think you may be correct, at least, maybe you are looking at it right.

 

tanks are seemingly the easiest to build yet i find that i play more with them than any of my spell casting classes. i'm a lot more experimental with tanks and i have found that there really is a diversity in their strengths, and some really do demonstrate a high level of sucktitude. i think my current tank in SoZ is going to stay f/wm. of course, i don't understand wm since it realistically caps at 7 as there are no significant bonuses to be had after that.

 

taks

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Wilderness Lore is fun, but I also enjoy figuring things on my own (which sometimes takes too long since I'm not the brightest pickle for a jar ). As for ToEE, I suppose I should be glad I can't play it since it would likely explode the laptop, but I miss playing those low level encounters again a whole damn lot. And I only finished like twice, so I could never try out many party combos.

[Gromnir]

yup, is no reason to take wm post level 7... explains why we were gonna add levels o' nw9 at the back end o' our hypothetical f/wm. am assuming our party finishes finish at around level 18, which means we gets maybe 4 or 5 levels after going 6 fighter and 7 wm. nw9 looks good... and am pretty sure we can't swing the feats needed for frenzied berserker. though am still toying with the traditional fighter/pal/dc mix for smiting, divine mighting, and unbeatable saves.

 

btw, loaded up and started playing a bit last night. in first battle we confront some relative low level critters including a goblinoid wielding a great axe. with one crit hit our ranger/rogue were reduced to negative 11 hps... which made us happy 'bout the implementation o' the new death rules.

 

our first trip through iwd2's fell wood were sans wilderness lore, so we had to do bread crumb routine.... drop a bolt at bad exits and an arrow at good ones. made it through fell wood, but not much further. is not a bad game, but we just got bored. replayed through to conclusion (finally) late last year or early this year. really weren't a bad game if you could slog through some o' the tedious portions.

 

 

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited December 19, 2008 by Gromnir

[taks]

never finished toee, but combat was definitely a bright spot (in spite of some of the bugs involved).

 

fell wood with wilderness lore is quite a different ballgame, btw. i was surprised.

 

i think i'm doing iwd2 simply because i want something different, and i don't want to go through the hassle of dealing with toee which i have never been able to finish. i did iwd1 not too long ago, all of the nwn2 stuff (still working on soz) and, of course, 2 or 3 romps through the bg series recently as well. i got bored of the witcher (not bad, but tedious like the gothics IMO) and there just isn't much else to play in terms of crpgs (not an nwn1 fan other than hotu).

 

for some reason gromnir, i haven't been able to get into the nw9 class. i dabbled in one of my treks through nwn2, but decided i didn't like it. not sure why. f/wm is defintely my favorite tank path regardless of any other classes i may include. i talk to friends of mine that play pnp solely and it is strange how differently they view their respective choices - more diversity. they want me to join their group as a healer of some sort but i don't have time.

 

taks

[Gromnir]

is 5 things we like 'bout nw9 as kinda a spice class... add flavor to a good fighter build.

 

1) give to a fighter type and it boosts will saves. nw9 gets will and fort saves.

 

2) the bab progression is high, so we not lose any melee efficacy.

 

3) the nw9 auras, on paper, is better than paladin auras. +3 save bonus and +2 deflection is nice for the guy standing next to the nw9. (btw, in nw2 we noticed that nw9 aura were bugged... for some inexplicable reason allies were getting a damage boost as well... but it were wonky and we could never figure out the numbers.)

 

4) spot and listen is class skills. not sound likes much? high level rogue types with sneaky attacks and hide-in-plain sight can be a nightmare. save up some skill points and then boost spot or listen to the max. levels the playing field a bit.

 

5) our f/wm builds is created to gets some ridiculous damage potential. am not one o' those guys that boost str to 20 at level 1 for max hitting power, but our earth gensai does start with an 18 strength and a falchion. at level 13 we is having weapon specialization, a 21 str, and am having a x3 crit on the falchion with a range o' 13-20. now, considering a 5th level nw9 can gets max damage on ALL melee attacks for 3 rounds...

 

*shrug*

 

but likes you noted, is all a matter o' personal preference. example: virtually every power build for mages includes red wizard levels... but we just can't do it. the notion o' playing a red wizard offends our delicate sensibilities. go figure.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Calax]

MGS4. I feel bad because literally everyone but Snake got some (even Hal).

there are some... interesting hidden L1 views during the second act (stuff like looking down naomi's blouse)

 

and they give you a psyche bonus!

[karka]

Just finished Eets. Definitely one of the best puzzle games I ever played. I couldn't get the trophy "do something special" because I have no idea what that special thing is.

 

[mkreku]

I've finally started playing GTA4 for real, after becoming bored with it during the three hour installation process a week or so ago. It seems OK for now, but whenever I get bored with doing missions and just want to fool around in the world, there's really not much to do. It's not at all as versatile as GTA: San Andreas. Oh, and all the people who've proclaimed that this GTA has the most realistic driving model so far: you are all 14 years old and have never actually driven a vehicle in your life. You will all be sorely disappointed when you get to drive a REAL car. Seriously, who thought the idea to make all vehicles (except the super sports cars) behave as if you were driving with slicks on ice was a good idea?! If you go above 50 mph you can't even turn! Idiotic.

[Hurlshort]

I think realistic driving SO FAR is the key. The other games weren't even close, total arcade game. GTA4 seemed easier to drive in a normal, non-high speed chase mode than previous titles.

[Deraldin]

Civilization 4 has sucked me in again. I was up till 5am the past two nights playing.

 

I did manage to win my second game on Noble though! Managed to pull out a come from behind space race victory. My score had my leadership potential below that of Nero.

[Calax]

I think realistic driving SO FAR is the key. The other games weren't even close, total arcade game. GTA4 seemed easier to drive in a normal, non-high speed chase mode than previous titles.

true, in previous games the cars had enough grip that you could turn a corner at 90 mph with application of the E-brake. To me, GTA4 both succeeded and failed, it succeeded at improving the storyline and better driving physics, but I think that it lost some points for me by adding a fake social aspect to the game I mean sure it's realistic to have you have to party with all your friends and keep their relationship strong, but it doesn't really make for very good gameplay (see Zero Punctuation's take on the social aspect.)

 

anywho, still playing WoW and started a game of resistance 2.

[samm]

Still at SoZ, too much to do to really invest time - great game, I'm really surprised how well NWN2 works for me: The OC had it's superb moments and was very good all in all, MotB was great, and SoZ is very addictive. This is the reason why it's on a temporary hiatus until I finish my university stuff for this semester.

 

Started Puzzle Quest for nice little game during breaks, and it's solid fun I also spend some "gaming time" watching my gf playing Okami and Zelda: Twilight Princess - two really good games I find, even if I can't really judge gameplay which seems a bit suboptimal for Okami (Wii).