| Left4dead |
[Apr. 21st, 2009|02:32 pm] |
Okay folks, I'm posting this here as a record! For one splitting moment I was number 1 on the Xbox leaderboards for left4dead.
So I share my strategy for my, now pitiful, success. On farmhouse... you go back towards the cliffside near the cornfield. You can go on the other side of a fence forcing everything to come from one way... switch to pistols and let loose. Make sure you put a ton of explosives around the area and that everyone has auto shotguns. Have everyone use the auto shotguns on the tank only. No more, no less. ^_^
Enjoy folks! like I said, this is just a record for me. ^_^ |
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| Another explorer departs |
[Jan. 15th, 2009|04:59 am] |
Ricardo Montalban (November 25, 1920 – January 14, 2009) while your trek was shorter than most, it was the greatest. May these people greet you when you get to the beyond.
Majel: 1932-2008
Michael: 1948-2005
James: 1920-2005
Jackson: 1920-1999
We will miss you Khan. |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 20th, 2008|05:33 am] |
May you rest in peace, Majel (1932-2008), and be thankful that those that went before you...
Michael: 1948-2005
James: 1920-2005
Jackson: 1920-1999
... will guide you back to Eugene (1921-1991) |
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| The effects of mass. |
[Feb. 20th, 2008|06:56 am] |
Or rather, that is to say, Mass Effect.
This review is going to be pretty short... why, because there is little to say.
Mass Effect is a straight forward shooter advancement game. You assume the role of the main character, though you can be a guy or girl, adjust looks etc, and even edit your history. Still, at the end of the day you mostly walk around and shoot things.
Concept: 5/10
HOWEVER:
Mass Effect SHINES over previous shooter titles and RPG titles that have claimed to do this. Not only is there no ass swaying syndrome on the male models, the game itself is actually pretty fun to play. Hell, there is even a planet that looks like Hoth (see previous reviews).
First and foremost, the equipment in mass effect really gives a dynamic to the game. Me, with both of my characters I ended up favoring a pistol and sniper rifle. While the latter takes you forever to be able to use effectively, the former is pretty much my kill all. By the end of the game I was disintegrating some of the most powerful enemies in the game with only a few shots. The advancement in skills really play a major role in just how good I was with a pistol.. not so much in terms of damage, but in actual ability to shoot what I aim at.
Also, the story has so many twists and endings that you can really replay it over and over again, with no problem. You have to make some hard decisions, ranging from talking a psycho girl down and getting her to not kill herself, to literally sending one of your teammates off to DIE. Even the final boss has different ways to play out. I personally had the ending where *spoiler* the main bad guy of the game reliazes his mistakes and takes his own life, leaving you to fight off a robot instead.
*/spoiler*
Then there is the music... DEAR GOD... it's like an orgasm in my ear. Every piece is beautifully played out and every note seems to hang just long enough to make you want to hear more. Furthermore, all the music FITS. I really could get into my locations and really feel their atmosphere.
AND WHAT AN ATMOSPHERE TO FEEL. The graphics are top notch, true next gen stuff folks. I must say I was impressed by it all. Sure there is a frame rate issue here and there... and some stuff is just cheesy, but frankly, when I saw the Normandy (your ship) finally do what it was meant to do... Lets just say I was proud.
Oh and there was sex too, somewhere...
About my only complaint in the game was when you got out in a vehicle. The vehicle sucks... while the physics rock a lot, you just can't effectively drive it. The manual told me nothing of a 'main' or 'secondary' weapon and there was no in game guide so I found myself just shooting a little machine gun for the first hour I needed the damn thing. It wasn't until I looked at the gun and noticed a second barrel that I pressed every single button on my controller and went, "Oh shit, that would have made taking down the tank a hell of a lot easier.. Fuck me."
All in all, mass effect is a phenomenal execution on a tired and old idea. I get flashes of Kingdom Hearts with how smooth the game play is, while still having a clear and obvious RPG progression. Replayability is through the roof, and frankly, I've had few games ever have a moment that made me truly sad (I'm looking at you Suikoden).
About the only thing I can imagine being cooler is expanding the scope of the game and adding some multi-player into it.
And more Hoth.
Nod out. |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 3rd, 2007|10:54 pm] |
...
Okay... I couldn't pass it up. Kill me later.
 Dear Santa...
Dear Santa,
This year I've been busy!
In February I stole ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) kagochan5's purse (-30 points). Last week I pushed ember_silverly in the mud (-17 points). In September I put money in xellossmchan's expired parking meter (14 points). In May vilagen and I robbed a bank (-50 points). In January I saved a busload of nuns in Angola (326 points).
Overall, I've been nice (243 points). For Christmas I deserve a Sony Playstation 3!
Sincerely,
Nod618 |
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| 500 miles |
[Jul. 27th, 2007|02:47 am] |
Blarg, distance sucks. I've noted over the past few years of my life that I'm a sucker for traveling long distances. The vast majority of my friends, ironically enough, live fairly close, within 30 seconds walking of each other, but I have a few people, who, in general, I have to drive for awhile to get to see. Now I love to drive, mind you, in a certain sense it is a liberating experience, but I also HATE to drive as well, as idiots are behind the wheels of most cars.
But back to the main point! You see, I've traveled a lot of distance in my life... I take friends to work who live upwards of 20 minutes away from my town, I've had a long distance relationship (twice), I even drive an hour every week just to play a game... and mind you, this isn't even the tip of the iceberg. Let me recap:
I used to drive north for various reasons, a relationship, soda, friends, etc... and I'm not talking like a few miles, I mean to different States. I drove to Delaware every other friday to attend a LARP of all things. I'd drive as far south as DC to play D&D, and I won't hesitate to give any friend of mine a lift in a jam if they are on the freakin east coast.
Creepy eh? But again, I've traveled over a large amount of distance. My idea of a 'drive' is picking a direction and heading in it until I get bored of that direction about an hour or so later. I consider myself knowledgeable in general about getting from point A to point B because of this, and am normally very confident in my abilities to do so. All this said, I really began to wonder WHY did I travel so far... Friends, family, boredom, all of the above? What was the true reason.
You see, sadly, for as much distance as I've covered I don't really go anywhere of interest or new simply because that's not why I'm traveling. I'm traveling, in general, for other people 9/10 times and occasionally for me to have some fun. The reason I began thinking on this is that one of my good friends, Vilagen, will be much further away and due to this distance, I won't even be able to drive there. That is just wrong. Furthermore, as people have aged and moved on with life, they have begun to move further away... and amongst most of those moving further away, I've noted a trend that a good portion would like me to come with them. I'm flattered to say the least, but I I know I'm in no position to do so.
So, when all of these people DO in fact move, what will I do? Travel a greater distance? Loose touch? Keep in touch via the net? I honestly don't know. Arizona, North Carolina, New York, Canada, England, Japan (to name a few locations various friends of mine are moving to) just aren't really 'driveable' options, and that will make life difficult to see these people to say the least, and since I do love to drive I will have to find alternate means to go about this.
That said, my boss cleared me for Pilot School, I'm in the moment I can pay the fees... some 11,000 dollars. I guess at the end of the day I'll just have to cover more distance in different and more innovative ways. |
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| Phones of doom |
[Jun. 22nd, 2007|01:01 am] |
Ironically I wrote this as a bunch of friends came over, I'm just now posting it before I head off to sleep (since I forgot to when I went off to play a game basically).
Tonight serves as a wonderful example of why I apparently need to have a cell phone... Unannounced, my Ashlyn and several friends came over to my house... Now this isn't in and of itself a bad thing, I like seeing Ashlyn and my friends, but the fact that I had every intention of just going to sleep made this highly undesirable at the time, furthermore, my shoes were in the wash, so I knew I wasn't going to be driving anyone home. It didn't help at all that I think I'm coming down with something. So, running on three hours of sleep since 8AM does not help any of this and I'm fairly certain it won't end well.
So they all show up and begin talking and what not, then silence. That eerie 'so now what' silence. They are all watching a TV show that I hate at this point so I decide the time has come for me to hightail it out of there. I already know I can't go to bed until after they leave, so I might as well do something constructive and play a videogame. So before I head off to play that game, I obviously feel like a heel. I'm not being any form of a host to my friends and soon to be wife, and frankly I really regret that.
End before I started playing the game:
So here I am, taking ten minutes to finish this up... Nothing eventful ended up happening at all and as such I sit here thinking to myself, "You know, a cell phone would have prevented this entire disaster." At the same time, I think, "but those are horrible devices that do nothing but make you mad!"
... *sigh* I just can't win I think. It's bad enough that half of my friends can't get in touch with me, but there is, what appears to be, a sort of cell phone 'cold war' going on here. I have friends who are CONVINCED, 100% convinced that I have a super secret magical cell phone that I'm just not telling them about, others who think I'm ignoring them, and others who won't shut up about me getting one, and citing examples like this for it. It's become just as much hassle to NOT have a cell phone, as it is TO have one. The only difference is more people are apparently unhappy with me.
So, after feeling like a heel for leaving everyone downstairs and doing absolutely nothing with them, I see that my browser is open and this is here and I'm posting it... while posting it I'm waiting for my email to load...
And I get this wonderful message.
"Damnit, just get a fucking cell phone you douche." Now I'm not going to name names (needless to say, I'm pretty much excluding the friend from everything I do now) but frankly, it just wasn't needed. I feel bad enough as is with sleep, impending illness, and being rude, that to have the cell phone thing thrown in my face YET again AS I WRITE UP THIS MESSAGE is just... well to put it bluntly, fucked up.
So enjoy world, for I will get a god damn cell phone... The first call will be to tell this friend to basically never call it and to pretty much stop talking to me all together... Pissed, yeah, a little.
To all of one friends who read this journal and was there tonight, I profusely apologize for not having the energy to actively engage in any sort of activity. |
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| There isn't a problem in the world that can't be solved by the proper application of explosives |
[Oct. 8th, 2006|09:18 pm] |
I was thinking on this line from a rather bad movie... and a few other things popped into my head
Proper application and demonstration of theory or law. This is how someone learns, and it is sadly not a way we teach in schools today.
For example. We all understand that math is a concept built upon countless theories and laws, all of which have combined over the years so that we mortals may understand a simple thing such as 2+2 = 4
But how many people know WHY 2+2 = 4. Forgive me for the preschool example, most of us do in fact understand why 2+2 = 4. It's a numerical unit exactly 2 away from the place holder of zero. By adding an additional 2 units to the 2 units we have already obtained, we are now at 4 units away from zero. I'm sure someone could explain that far better with out me having to use such a dirty thing as the object of the definition within the definition. This is closer to teaching the application of the theory. One may then demonstrate the theory by using an abstract problem such as 3+4=7. 3 is X units from 0, + 4 additional units = 7, so on and so forth.
You see, I've noticed that we as a society would rather show kids that 2+2 = 4 all the time, rather than telling them why it equals four. Rather than teach the application of the the theory/law, we just will repeat the law, over and over and over again, until someone gets it. Once they get it then they will know that 1+9 = 10, 8 + 8 = 16 and 1/4 = .25... well maybe not the last one... By just repeating 2+2 = 4 a person realizes that whenever they see 2+2=? They know the answer MUST be four. Why? Because they were taught that. Something a bit more complicated, however, such as -2+2=? They won't understand that concept until they are much much older... This is because they are shown the law, not the application of the law.
The problem isn't limited to something as simplistic and structured as math. It's actually far more common in the other arenas, such as English. BTW, far be it from me to talk about the English language, but to be perfectly honest, it wasn't until my senior year at high school that I learned anything at all in terms of grammar for the simple reason that no teacher would explain to me the application and use of the theory. They would simply tell me the law, over and over and over again.
This is because teachers, in general, are taught to merely show the rule, not explain it. You place a comma here, here, and here, you spell it the way it sounds, and my personal favorite, I before E except after C...
Weird, isn't it?
You see, the English language, both written and spoken is merely a jumble of several base languages, French, German, Spanish, and Latin being the main ones. The rules contradict each other over and over and over again, and therefore we have no practical application of the theory or laws of the English language that we can fall back on. Sure we have rules and theories based on our language, but we have other rules and theories that contradict those very rules! Because (oh, dear me, I put because at the start!) all the laws contradict, there is no reason to explain them... just show how they work and they will be fine. They then, of course, fail to explain WHY the laws contradict, and HOW they can both co-exist. Newtonian and Quantum can do it, so can you English language...
Now before you get too confused, let me explain a bit more. I'm not really interested in how 19 words have a single relation, or how understanding where the period goes will help me get a job later in life. I'm interested in understanding the application of the theory or law and how it works. My fiance perhaps is the best example of this since every time I sit down and explain to her the rules of risk, she will ask me, "but WHY is it that I want to defend that..." To date I haven't come up with a reasonable answer other than, "to win the game..." As hard as it might be to teach someone WHY they should attack Iceland in risk, it isn't impossible. Sugar, the reason isn't just to win, that is the over all goal. The reason is that you have high probability of success and by removing those units on Iceland you will obtain MORE units and therefore increase your chances of success. Furthermore, you eliminate the units your opponents have. Last but not least, you gain a strategic position, as there is only one way in and out of Iceland... normally." I'm going to be hit later for writing that, BTW... So I hope you are all happy.
But (dear god, I put that at the start, what am I doing!!!) her question of WHY she should attack Iceland is no different than WHY is it that "I"must come before "E" except after "C" (oh no, no period, I've undone the universe!!!)
and again, that law is just damn weird.
Anyway, the lack of showing the practical application of the theory or law is what prevents people from learning. Touting the law off just won't do the trick. I will never learn that my sentence should be written complete by just telling me what a complete sentence is... I won't understand why Japan attacked the USA in WW2 by someone just telling me they did, and I sure as hell won't understand that 2+2=4 until someone can explain to me why...
I might, however, on my own figure it out through independent study, but that hardly is someone else teaching me.
So here is the actual point of the post. Application of theory or law. Practical Application of THEORY OR LAW. You must explain WHY a law is, HOW it works, WHY it works, and WHY it can coexist with laws that otherwise make it NOT WORK. In short, next time a student asks you why is that I before E comes after C. Don't tell them that's the way it is.
Tell them that it isn't a constant, and that the practical application of the theory or law behind it is for X, Y, and Z. This is why the law was invented in the first place, to allow X, Y, and Z to work... and this is HOW they work.
After all, at the end of the day... albeit, ancient, atheism, beige, being, caffeine, casein, cleidoic, codeine, conscience, counterfeit, deficient, deify, deity, deign, deil, disseize, dreidel, efficient, eider, eight, either, feign, feint, feisty, financier, foreign, forfeit, freight, geisha, glacier, gleization, gneiss, greige, greisen, heifer, heigh-ho, height, heinous, heir, heist, inveigle, kaleidoscope, keister, leisure, leitmotiv, monteith, neigh, neighbor, neither, obeisance, omniscient, onomatopoeia, peignoir, phenolphthalein, phthalein, prescient, proficient, protein, reign, reimburse, rein, reinforce, reinstate, reveille, Rotweiller, science, seeing, seiche, seidel, seine, seismic, seize, seizin, sheik, sheila, society, sovereign, specie, species, sufficient, surfeit, surveillance, teiid, their, veil, vein, weight, and weir... really are not so weird after all. |
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| When you're sick, it shows. |
[Aug. 8th, 2006|09:54 pm] |
... Blarg... I had one hell of a day the other day... bad kinda day, but since I'm very anti complaining about personal problems on my LJ (even if I do sometimes), I will move on to something about me.
Stress = Bad
The more stressed I get, the less attentive I become, the less fun loving I become, the more offensive I become, and last but not least, the more sick I become. 9/10 times me getting sick is caused directly from me being far too stressed.
In other news, Otakon was a blast, I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy to see all my friends there who could make it. That means you New York people! I took a lot of pictures, I even put a video of the hygine swat team with Axe Girl as the start onto You Tube.
I was a bit disapointed this year, however... it seemed like a lot of poor work went into planning out the convention this year. Granted, things were still fantastic this year, but I feel as though too many 'good things' were overlooked.
Oh, and btw... Full Metal Alchemist the Movie...
Take one part full metal
One part human Al
One part Huges
And one part hitler.
And no, I'm not kidding.
Fucking kicked ass... I personally had a bad taste on the ending, but it was still a VERY GOOD ending... |
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| "Gone to graveyards..." |
[Jul. 15th, 2006|01:18 am] |
I love it. I absolutely love it. History in the making I tell you.
What do I refer to? Honestly am I the only person who watches the news? Why our little section of the world known as the middle east. Some 3,000 years of religious and political issues, brought the front some 60 odd years ago and staying there ever since. Wars fought, wars lost, wars won, men, women, and kids dying left and right.
And for what? Because Group A and Group B,C,D,E,F, and G hate one another. No one can simply live together and get along... and all over TRIVIAL issues that could all be solved in about five minutes if people would dare give up their pride and save their people.
The best part is that it has been coming for those 60 years, and now that it is here, no one on the planet who is in charge knows what to do. They had SIXTY YEARS to prepare for the OBVIOUS major conflict and now so many sides are split it is funny.
Now then... for those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about, go to CNN or read my simplified unbias history.
Group A was, through out history, mistreated, displaced, enslaved, and so forth. They had a homeland that they lost several times through out their history.
Group B-F have the same issues.
Both groups blame the other.
Group A happened to get their home back. Group B-F didn't like the fact that group A had a home that they didn't anymore and attacked group A.
Group A kicked their collective asses. Group B ended their war... mainly because they couldn't fight. Group B made a few good strides for peace with group A.
Sadly, groups C-F did not. Group C-F dicided that they would fight to the last for a war that was merely in their heads. They created a war from nothing. A war of agression, hate, and general dislike of group A.
Group A dicided to ignore them. Group A figured it would blow over. Group A was wrong when buildings began to blow up.
Groups C-F attacked group A, breaking many laws regarded as nessacery civilized laws required for war.
Group A fought back.
Group UN yelled at group A, who used excessive force in many situations. Group A eventually backed down, and hunkered down for a long peace process.
Group C joined group B in this peace process with group A. Everyone was slowly becoming happy.
Then groups D-F ruined it for everyone. They attacked group A again and again. Group B and Group C could not stop them, and would not stop them. They had neither the will nor the manpower for either. Group A pressed B and C, but to no avail, you can do nothing if you have not the power to do so.
So group A defended itself.. only to capitulate to demands... again, and again, and again... And so it went, with no end in sight.
Then one day, group A had enough. That was several days ago.
I have no love for anyone in this conflict. Although I am getting pissed off at people who try to sugar coat history to one side or the other... EVERYONE is in the wrong, NO ONE is in the right. This event is no one persons fault, it is the worlds fault.
Don't believe me?
We had 60 years to prevent it. But hey, 3,000 years of merciless killing of everyones collective kids... I guess you just can't break tradition.
For the record... I believe that, from the last conflict, certain militent groups are getting exactly what they deserve. I also believe that if people weren't so stupid it never had to come to this.
Besides, it's fun to see the world run around trying to figure out what to do since a real political event exploaded in their face. UN, I do not envy your ignorance of this issue for so long, and I do not envy the blame history will place upon you 50 years from now. The teacher is allowed to go onto the playground and break up the fight... and they generally do. Too bad they don't stop the bickering and name calling that caused the fight in the first place....
Bah.
In other news, I know what I'm writing about when I go for my masters in history. ^_^ |
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| Oblivion |
[Jul. 6th, 2006|01:57 am] |
Okay folks... I would like to start my reveiw of a fantastic game with my only real major complaint about it... and no, it is not a guys butt swaying in the wind this time (thank god).
Dear Bethesda Software people who make Oblivion.
STOP WITH THE FUCKING OBLIVION GATES ALREADY! more on this later folks.
Okay people. Oblivion, if you have a computer that can run it, is great. A weak but good physics engine is in place whic allows some enviroment interaction, a fantastic set of music, graphics that make you actually WANT to walk around the world, and for those who don't want to walk about, a fast travel system. There are some minor issues with the game that are mere annoyences.
Picking up items and moving them: I understand that we wanted to create and show off our physics engine... but seriouslly, next time make it a bit less of a headache to pick up the glass I knocked over. It shouldn't take me five minutes.
Stealing: This is made nearly entirely worthless... and it essentially made my normal way of getting money in RPGs (taking everything that isn't nailed down or in sight) impossible... I just don't understand why NO ONE will buy my stolen goods... it isn't like I advertise that I stole them... and it sucks that I would have to deal with the theives guild to sell them, something a first level character really shouldn't do.
Archery/Stealth: This owns EVERYTHING... EVERYTHING... and everything it doesn't own, it owns enough that your second arrow normally kills them by the time they reliaze you are there. BTW: A big plus is showing the arrows in the target and the ability to retrieve your arrows. Very cool.
These are the minor annoyences that around lv 10 you embrace or get over... Again, this game is fantastic in combat in all its forms, has some of the coolest traps I've seen in a game (including one that makes you avoid the trap, only to fall into the next trap which happens to send you flying into a hole in the roof filled with spikes. I saw the spikes and didn't fall for it btw).
The big annoyence is the main issue in the game. Oblivion... or specifically the gates of Oblivion.
You see... there are several planes of existence... there is the real world, and there is oblivion to list a few. Oblivion is a very unahppy and nasty place. So nasty that we decided we didn't want to deal with them anymore... or rather, we decided we didn't want them to kick our ass... so we sealed it away...
Unfortunently, we suck at sealing things away... *spoiler times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*
You see, our security system is entirely dependent on the leader of our nation doing the following things: Beling alive, having sons, having those sons be alive, and having those sons, upon the death of the leader, lite a fire somewhere.
So yes, the system fails if these people happen to die... an evil cult figured this out and decided they were going to do it...
And so the gates of Oblivion open. Everywhere... no I mean it... Every place you could imagine a big giant pointy orange stargate wannabe appearing, it appears... What is worse is that the gates are so 'evil' that when you get near them they make the pretty music go away, the sky turn blood run, and thunder boom through the air... this makes them very damaging to the realistate market, and since you don't want to have to pay through the roof for your houses (haunted or otherwise) you best get to work on taking them out!
...
If you could possibly hope to keep up with them.
The first gate to appear is apparently the only one that had any substantial military force with it... it appeared outside an unfortunete town which, sadly, gets blown to hell and back. You go through and enter the gate and teleport to the plane of Oblivion, an unfriendly place marked by a very deranged engineer designing EVERYTHING from traps, plant life, unstable mountains, and very pointy and covered in blood spikes that apparently serve no purpose but to add to the mood.
Don't worry, that's the worst oblivion has... really. Granted some of the traps could easily kill you if you are stupid... but if you walk through oblivion slowly, and listen to your surroundings... you will live a long life.
Now then, this gate appeared right infront of the main gate to the poor town it destroyed... Supposedly a ton of monsters and deadra poured out and killed everything in their path... a few people escape and wait to take that battle to the enemy.
You, however, are here for a different reason... one that doesn't even require the damn gate to be closed... you must rescue the unknown son of the emperor (how convinent?). He won't leave for SAFETY to SAVE THE EMPIRE, if you don't close that gate and make the town safer for people.
Damn him... awww well... So you go off into Oblivion... graced with its lava rivers and red skies you waltz through to the highest tower and kill enemies left and right... at the top is a stone... and the moment you touch it... well the plane of oblivion and that gate, sorta expload... dont' worry, you will always be (thankfully) thrown out.
Okay... so I can accept that as a cool dungeon.. it was neat and had a few good things...
Then word spreads... The oblivion gates are appearing everywhere..
So I think, "oh... so it is appearing at all the towns. Okay." So I go to a few towns and destroy an oblivion gate or 10...
Only to find out there are more... a lot more... everywhere..
I mean these are in places that you would wonder, "Why the fuck is there an oblivion gate, on a mountain top, in the middle of nowhere, when this area holds NO STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE!?" Furtheremore, if they can, appearently, make them appear wherever they want... why not just make one appear where they are hiding the new emperor.
Worse yet, each gate does that stupid 'turn the sky red and kill your pretty music' making the area look much less peaceful... they don't spawn a lot of monsters (or very powerful ones for that matter) so you're in no hurry to go and shut them, and local towns seem prefectly okay to just let them appear enmass and ignore them...
Then the dumbest feature of Oblivion... you see, the land is filled with great dungeons and caves that offer traps and challanges that always have you in sepense...
Oblivion is the same shit, every time... The changes to oblivion are as simple as adding one or two more challanges to overcome... and by challanges I mean towers... which are generally as complicated as flipping a switch or two.. Maybe I'd be more inclined to close these gates if I had some reason to... but other than the fact that they make the landscape generally a crappy red color... I have none... they pose no threat or anything. At their worst they may spawn near a quest area that is apart from the main quest and I might have to kill a monster or two.
Early on, I even did have a reason... recognition... people NOTICED when you closed a gate outside their town... but after closing the third or forth gate around a town... the cries of, "oh thank you, Hero of Kavacth, Scorch of Oblivion, Closer of the gates... we are in your debt!" For the person to only turn around and insult me when I actually engaged them in dialog... well.. I think we could do with out some towns...
There was also a sense of urgency inregards to some of the gates... but in the end there really isn't urgency what so ever... the game quietly sits by and spawns these gates and does nothing else with them...
In the end, Oblivion gates as dungeons simply suck, in Morrowind they would also be completely USELESS (a simple levitate spell would end most of these gates) I seriouslly question the 'scope' the designers were hoping for... You would think that, if these gates are being used for invasion reasons then they would.. you know.. invade.
And again, no one else does anything about these gates (if it isn't part of the main story). Towns seem to just want to wait on you to come by and save them... even though you should be really REALLY busy helping the new emperor, you know, save the empire.
Aww well... Oblivion gets a 4/5... One less than X-plays 5/5... A fantastic game, but it does have its flaws...
even if it is the most beautiful game I've seen in a long time. |
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| Piddle, Twiddle and Resolve |
[Jul. 5th, 2006|03:50 am] |
What happens when the Antediluvians start fighting?
TREMERE: "Awright, Haqim! I have HAD it with you! You're gonna die!"
HAQIM: "Says you. Phbbbt!"
TREMERE: "Oh, yeah? Thaumaturgy 10, Lure of Flames! I blow up Asia!"
HAQIM: "Celerity 10. I dodge. I'm now standing in the middle of the ocean."
TREMERE: "Thaumaturgy 10, Neptune's Might. I boil the oceans."
HAQIM: "Obfuscate 10. What ocean?"
TREMERE: "Thaumaturgy 10, Movement of the Mind. I hit the remaining ocean
with the moon."
LASOMBRA: "Tag in! Obtenebration 9. What moon?"
TREMERE: "Auspex 10. *That* moon."
LASOMBRA: "Tag out!"
HAQIM: "Oh crap. Umm... Quietus 10."
TREMERE: "Here comes the big ball of rock, baby!"
[HAQIM is squished]
BRUJAH: "Didn't Haqim just activate Quietus 10?"
NOSFERATU: "And it was a surprisingly quiet squishing. Stupid discipline."
TREMERE: "Lasombra..."
LASOMBRA: "Tag, um, Tzimisce!"
TZIMISCE: "Vicissitude 10. Try that moon trick now, spellboy."
TREMERE: "Tag Ventrue!"
VENTRUE: "Dominate 10. Who's your daddy?"
TZIMISCE: "You're my daddy."
LASOMBRA: "Tag in! Potence 10. Feel the pain!"
VENTRUE: "Fortitude 10! What pain?"
LASOMBRA: "Obtenebration 10! I hope you like small, dark, places."
VENTRUE: "Fuck."
[VENTRUE vanishes]
LASOMBRA: "I have ALWAYS wanted to do that."
TZIMISCE: "Vicissitude 10. Lasombra, you're now a small ball of cheese."
SMALL BALL OF CHEESE: "WHY?"
TZIMISCE: "Ventrue still calls the shots. Read Dominate 10."
SMALL BALL OF CHEESE: "Damn, he's right."
TZIMISCE: "Animalism 10. Horde of cheese-eating mice."
SMALL BALL OF CHEESE: "Obtenebration 10. I am a shadow of a small ball of
cheese."
TZIMISCE: "Tag Tremere!"
TREMERE: "Thaumaturgy 10, Lure of Flames. Shadow of fondue, you mean."
SMALL BALL OF CHEESE: *fwoosh*
NOSFERATU: "Animalism 10. They're MY horde of mice."
TZIMISCE: "Animalism 10. Mine."
NOSFERATU: "Mine!"
TZIMISCE: "Gimme!"
BRUJAH: "Celerity 10 AND Potence 10. I crush Tzimisce and Nosferatu while
they're still arguing about the mice."
NOSFERATU: "Urk." [dies]
TZIMISCE: "Urk." [reforms] "Love that Vicissitude 10."
BRUJAH: "Oh, dearie."
TZIMISCE: "Now the mice are MINE!"
[MASKED AVENGER #1 appears from nowhere]
MASKED AVENGER #1: "All of you shall die for consorting with our enemies!
Or, in some cases, actually being our enemies."
ENNOIA: "Who the heck are *you*?"
MASKED AVENGER #1: "Oh, sorry. I'm early."
[MASKED AVENGER #1 vanishes]
TZIMISCE: "Not even the first Masked Avenger, whoever he was, can stop me!"
ARIKEL: "Auspex 10. What *can* stop someone with Vicissitude 10? Oh,
diablerie."
TREMERE: "Thaumaturgy something or other. I weaken Arikel a generation."
ARIKEL: "You just made that up!"
TREMERE: "Trust me, you'll like it."
BRUJAH: "Potence 10. I expend a barrage of fisticuffs upon Tzimisce."
TZIMISCE: "Vicissitude 10. I can ignore them."
ENNOIA: "Animalism 10. My mice."
TZIMISCE: "Mine!"
TREMERE: "Quick, Arikel! Diablerize Tzimisce while he's distracted!"
AUGUSTUS: "Necromancy 10, Bone Path! The dead have risen- and they're
voting Republican!"
TREMERE: "Don't you guys *ever* stop worrying about temporal power?"
AUGUSTUS: "Umm. No."
MALKAV: "Dementation 10! Everyone goes absolutely crazy!"
[there is a pause]
[the pause lengthens]
BRUJAH: "You feel any different, Ennoia?"
ENNOIA: "Nope. You?"
BRUJAH: "Nope. Tremere?"
TREMERE: "Nope."
AUGUSTUS: "Me neither."
BRUJAH: "Nobody asked you."
MALKAV: "Well, THAT was a non-starter."
TZIMISCE: "Well, I *gurgle*..."
ARIKEL (dropping diablerized corpse of Tzimisce): "*I* sure feel different!"
ENNOIA: "Well, that settles it. My mice."
ARIKEL: "I now have Animalism 10. Mine!"
MALKAV: "CATFIGHT!"
BRUJAH: "Mousefight, actually."
AUGUSTUS: "How droll."
TREMERE: "Thaumaturgy 10, Hands of Destruction. I kill the freakin' mice,
already."
ARIKEL: "Waaahhh!"
AUGUSTUS: "Zombie mice!"
ENNOIA: "Bastards."
[MASKED AVENGERS #1, #2, and #3 appear]
MASKED AVENGER #2: "Prepare to meet final death at the hands of the Masked
Avengers!"
MASKED AVENGER #3: "Especially you, Tremere!"
MASKED AVENGER #2: "No, especially *you*, Augustus!"
MASKED AVENGER #3: "Tremere!"
MASKED AVENGER #2: "Augustus!"
ENNOIA: "Who *are* you guys, anyway?"
MASKED AVENGER #3: "It's a secret. That's why we're wearing masks."
BRUJAH: "Speaking of which, why does your mask have three eyeholes?"
MASKED AVENGER #3: "To be distinctive."
BRUJAH: "Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of wearing a mask?"
MASKED AVENGER #1: "You always were a smartass."
BRUJAH: "Potence 10. I punch the first Masked Avenger."
MASKED AVENGER #1: "Ow." [dies]
MASKED AVENGER #2: "We other Masked Avengers are not so easily thwarted!
We shall have our revenge! Especially on you, Augustus!"
MASKED AVENGER #3: "Tremere!"
MASKED AVENGER #2: "Augustus!"
AUGUSTUS: "Can we get rid of these guys?"
TREMERE: "Sure you take care of the guy with the three eyeholes in his
mask, and I'll take the guy who says he's my archenemy."
MASKED AVENGER #3: "I, with the three eyes, am your archenemy, Tremere."
TREMERE: "Whatever."
AUGUSTUS: "Potence 10. I crush the guy with the three eyes."
MASKED AVENGER #3: "Fortitude 10. I soak."
TREMERE: "Thaumaturgy 10, Lure of Flames. I obliterate Masked Avenger #2."
MASKED AVENGER #2: "Fortitude 10. I soak."
BRUJAH: "Like the guest that won't leave, aren't they?"
AUGUSTUS: "I can handle this. Necromancy 10, Ash Path. I summon the
spirits of those who have died tragically."
SPIRITS OF THOSE WHO HAVE DIED TRAGICALLY: "We are here."
AUGUSTUS: "Explain your tragedies to the Masked Avengers."
[The SPIRITS OF THOSE WHO HAVE DIED TRAGICALLY do so]
MASKED AVENGER #3: "Oh, the Angst! I cannot *bear* it!"
[MASKED AVENGER #3 commits suicide]
MASKED AVENGER #2: "How fascinating. I wish to learn more."
AUGUSTUS: "Spirits of those who have died tragically, return to the
Shadowlands."
[The SPIRITS OF THOSE WHO HAVE DIED TRAGICALLY do so]
MASKED AVENGER #2: "I must follow them to learn more."
[MASKED AVENGER #2 commits suicide]
ARIKEL: "Well, *that* took forever. But now it's done. Now what?"
TREMERE: "Auspex 10 and Thaumaturgy 10, Lure of Flames. I incinerate Set
in that corner he's been hiding."
[SET turns to ashes]
AUGUSTUS: "Letting everyone else do the fighting and taking out the
winners? I am shocked, SHOCKED."
BRUJAH: "Shocked that you didn't think of it first."
AUGUSTUS: "And I *deeply* deplore that."
[MASKED AVENGER #1 appears]
MASKED AVENGER #1: "Prepare to meet final death at the hands of the Masked
Avenger!"
BRUJAH: "You ever have the feeling of deja vu?"
MASKED AVENGER #1: "Constantly."
ENNOIA: "Enough of this. Protean 10. Welcome to the sun, boys!"
TREMERE: "Hah! Thaumaturgy 10, Invulnerable Weakness!"
[MASKED AVENGER #1 goes *fwoosh*]
[BRUJAH goes *fwoosh*]
[MALKAV goes *fwoosh*]
[ARIKEL goes *fwoosh*]
AUGUSTUS: "Hah! You've played perfectly into my master plan! No, wait."
[AUGUSTUS goes *fwoosh*]
TREMERE: "Thaumaturgy 10, Neptune's Might. I extinguish Ennoia."
[ENNOIA goes *fwoosh*]
TREMERE: "Woo hoo, I won!"
RAVNOS: "Forgot me."
TREMERE: "You? Where the heck have you been?"
RAVNOS: "Keeping a low profile."
TREMERE: "And you didn't burn up in the sun?"
RAVNOS: "Fortitude 10, baby. And I'll thank you not to kill off my mice."
TREMERE: "PREPARE TO DIE!"
RAVNOS: "Not so fast! Chimeristry 10!"
TREMERE: "Chimeristry 10? You mean..."
RAVNOS: "Yup. ''Reality.'' I'll turn us all into a roleplaying game."
TREMERE: "You wouldn't!"
RAVNOS: "I just did."
TREMERE: "NOOOOOOOO!!!"
[RAVNOS, TREMERE, and the corpses of the other antediluvians are replaced
by a series of hardback and paperback game supplements]
THE END |
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| User Name |
[Jun. 29th, 2006|12:29 am] |
Well, seeing as how I don't update much, and I'm too busy playing Sim City 4 to reveiw anything other than that right now (I do have a reveiw in the works though) I might as well conteniue what I saw in a differen't post.
Nod618: This is my first username. Period. A few people know my real username, but that is the name I associate with the STvSW debate, and a lot of stupid posts I made eons ago. Trying to be an ass to people and reflecting on it is not recomended folks, since then you reliaze just how much of an ass you are. But that past was apologized for and forgiven so... meh.
Anyway... Nod618 was my first screen name in my first online game I played. Fighter Ace 1.5. It was on MSN if I remember correctly. I was pretty good at it and played it a lot. The name was spawned from the game command and conquer and the playable side known as the Brotherhood of Nod. I wrote in Nod and, since this was my first screen name, was shocked to see it taken... A lot of crappy stuff was suggested, including Nod0000000000001
So I dicided that is dumb and if I had to pick a number I'm picking my own number. 618. NodSIXeightteen. It represented nothing, I just dicided that THAT was my screen name number and to hell with anyone who touches it. Eventually we all get a screen name of our own that we use exclusiviely online, and I did too... I won't reveal it because if you know it, enjoy, if you don't, there is most likely a reason.
Nod618 has only appeared on fighter ace, a few websites, and in command and conquer. I chose it on LJ since I figured it would be nicer to my friends, this way people don't figure out who they are by figuring out who I am.
Of course, any idiot could read the thing and if they had a slight idea they'd figure it out... but I don't rank most people online at idiot level... they tend to be a bit lower.
Story over, conteniue with your lives. |
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| To multiclass or not to multiclass |
[Jun. 15th, 2006|03:01 am] |
30 points (average total on 4D6, remove lowest, style) with point for point transfer.
STR 14
DEX 18
CON 16
INT 18
WIS 18
CHA 10
Monk, Monk, Cleric, Cleric, Cleric, Wizard, Wizard, Wizard, Wizard, Wizard
LEVEL TEN CHARACTER
CN
Human
HP: 8 + 30 + 16 + 10 = 64 (max first level, 30 points from con, all other levels halfed)
AC: 10 + 4 + 4 = 18 Misc: Mage armor + 4, Sheild + 4, Two sword style + 2. Two rounds to get to AC 30
Saves:
Fortitude: 3 + 3 + 1 + 3 = 10 (average save of a level 16 monk)
Reflex: 3 + 1 + 1 + 4 = 9 (average save of a level 14 rouge
Willpower: 3 + 3 + 4 + 4 = 14 (Impossible under 20th level within standard classes, epic LEVEL only)
Special Abilities:
Evasion (on successful reflex save you take no damage)
Turn Undead (lv 3 standard)
Summon Familiar (you can get up to lesser fire elementals)
Flurry of Blows
AC bonus
Feats:
Base: Improved Init
Human: Sudden Empower
Third: Sudden Maximize
Sixth: Two Weapon Fighting
Ninth: Two sword Style
Metamagic: Craft Wonderous
Monk: Combat Reflexes
Monk: Improved Grapple
Monk: Unarmed Strike
Wizard: Scribe Scroll
Spells: up to 2nd level cleric, and 3rd level wizard.
Base attack bonus = +5
Most powerful attack in a single round: Scorching Ray, Sudden Empower, Sudden Maximize, Ranged Touch Attack (vs touch AC), = 72 points of damage, or you may target two differen't people and deal 36 damage to each of them. Spell level at end of attack = level 2, no change.
Think it is scary at level 10? Try level 20.
Monk X2, Cleric X3, Wizard X5, Mystic Thurge (prestiege so no XP penality) X 10.
This means I have a lv 2 monk, a level 15 wizard, and a level 13 cleric all in a nice level 20 box. You don't even want to see the saves.
Number of books required to accomplish this: Four, PHB, DMG, Complete Arcane, Forgotten Realms
Number of books required with out feats: PHB, DMG
Number of books required with out thurge: Players Hand Book
I was bored... I decided to post my favorite build. Enjoy it for now, I'll most likely take it down when I look at this post when I'm not tired and wonder why on earth I did that. ^_^ |
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| The Level One Wizard |
[Jun. 7th, 2006|05:45 am] |
Okay folks, I'm here to tor- err... amuse you all with a D&D story.
Now then, before I begin, I'd like to tell you all that, given the horrible HORRIBLE evil my players were up against they were lucky that the worst that happened to them was death. No seriouslly, I am the biggest killer GM EVER. Right Vilagen? >=)
On that note, don't think my players too stupid, they had some unusual methods, sure, but in general, they were okay guys.
Now then... I was recently asked to run games at my local gaming store. I agreed (foolish me). I quickly wrote up some simple one shot games, all of which could be completed any number of ways.
I wrote up one entitled, "tax collector." I decided my players would enjoy it, it would be fast, and easy.
So, here is the set up. In a quiet peaceful town, our heroes, two lawful good players (cleric and paladin), are setting off on their first level 1 adventure. Their church has told them to go enforce the laws of the town by collecting the debts owed by one man, who doesn't actually live in the town, but apparently owes them taxes.
The players go off to collect the debts from the old necromancer, hearing tales of the fate of the last tax collector to go out there (he never returned). That was almost three years ago, and since then the man has accumilated enough in taxes to buy a small village.
And were off... the party encounters the mans 'home' a set of ruins. Outside the door stand two guards, undead guards of course, the bones white as the clouds in the sky even...
After a (failed) turn undead attempt, the wizard uses a simple spell to make more skeletons appear (illusions of course) and then he demands that the part leaves his property. The wizard, who is lawful evil, is not amused.
The party tries (and fails) to convince the wizard to come with them back to town. The wizard refuses and begins to threaten to use his right to remove people from his property, as given in the third code of the kingdom law, section two, paragraph 74, on page 18. Third line down.
The party feels a bit overwhelmed by the wizard... as he begins to threaten the use of his mystic arts, the part feels that they need back up. They return, empty handed, back to the town. Their mentors cry at their failure... but give them an acolyte.
The party, and acolyte, return later that evening. The wizard is not ammused, he has important business to deal with of course (like dealing with the evil monster in his basement that happens to be a problem for him). After barging into his home, the wizard gets a few lucky roles, his skeletons defend a bit, and soon the party is regrouping. The wizard, however, is spent. He retreats to his study and gets scrolls to battle on with. The party regroups only to hear a loud roar, as the monster comes running out of the basement, destroying the skeletons, and then charging the party. They run away, the big evil monster chasing them until it got distracted by some poor farmer and his farm house.
Wounded, and defeated, they return to town to rest up. They decide that they will go back on the next day and defeat the wizard.
The wizard, however, has leveled up from his encounter with the PCs. He is now LV 2.
The PCs and acolytes attack the next day, a successful turn undead attempt sends the skeletons away, and they barge into the ruins. After running over a trap the wizard set (to get the monster if it returns) the wizard comes out and is angered over the destruction of his property.
They attack him on sight. The wizard is horribly wounded... down to a mere one hit points after a single blow. He quickly casts a charm person on the acolyte, who proceeds to heal the wizard as best he can (after all, he is a really nice guy now, right?). Not wanting to harm their friend, the cleric and paladin regroup in formation near the wizard... he reliazes he has them all in a cone and quickly unleashes his colorspray.
The cleric and acolyte drop. The wizard then calls out to the paladin. "you have bothered me enough... leave now and take your friends, before I slay them in the defense of my home."
The paladin lifts his mighty sword, attacks and....
Rolls a 3.
The wizard (at a wonderful TWO hit points now) is not amused. Sudden Maximize, Sudden Empower, Shocking Grasp, touch attack (11 AC) and we have one VERY dead paladin.
The wizard proceeds to remove the people from his property, putting them outside (still not killing the other two, since the legal troubles would be too much).
They awaken just as he finishes getting his skeletons back... The wizard calls out to them. "Your friend attacked me, I had to defend myself, your lives should be evidence enough I want no trouble."
The cleric responds.
"You have slayed my friend... Acolyte, go back to the town."
The acolyte conteniues.
"no, I will fight by you, as is my duty."
"Very well... then we shall both leave, and tell the town of the murder you have committed, the guards shall come back."
The wizard responds...
"son of a... Very well, I'm left with no choice... if the guard will come anyway... Skeletons kill them."
Round 1:
Skeleton: *whack* acolyte dead.
Cleric: SHIT! *FLEE!*
Wizard: *magic missile* Cleric dead (badly wounded from that trap).
The wizard is now level three.
For the record, there were several solutions to this problem:
Solution 1: Kill the EVIL necromancer and take the gold back to town (newbie solution)
Soultion 2: Help the evil encromancer kill the monster and he pays the taxes by thanking you (diplomatic)
Soultion 3: Succeed on a DC 20 diplomacy check to get the wizard to pay his taxes.
Soultion 4: Succeed on a DC 25 intimidation check.
And of course, my story based solution (which a little investigation would have revealed).
It should seem odd that the wizard claims this to be his property (after all, he wouldn't be paying taxes to the town then). Furthermore, he doesn't get any protection from the town at all... it should seem odd.
The wizard believes he bought the property from the last tax collector, who took the money and ran (again, more investigation around town would actually reveal this). Furthermore, the mayor of the town is also lawful evil and saw a chance to extort money and use the church to do his dirty work. A little bit of work in town would reveal this. The mayor is discovered for who he is, is thrown out of office, and the necromancer gets help to deal with the monster. The necromancer, deciding that maybe evil isn't the way to go, becomes LN and joins the party.
And yes, hints were dropped in regards to this, five times no less.
To my players, good game, good story...
And I promise I'll NEVER get a LV 1 wizard after you guys ever again...
Look on the bright side...
He didn't have a familiar.... *shudder* |
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| Where have all the dwarves gone.... |
[Jun. 4th, 2006|03:27 pm] |
Presenting my reveiw of The Elder Scrolls III Morrowwind.
I've been playing this game for some time now and I must admit, it has had some good times and some bad times. It also pretty much destroys any chance of me having any form of a social life due to the horrible OCD I have collecting tons and tons of folded cloth for my house..... but that's for another time...
Now then...
Plot: This is one of the most open ended games ever. There is a central plot of sorts... but it really takes a back seat to side quests upon side quests...
upon side quests...
and more side quests still. The plot is fairly open ended because of this, but in general has been pretty good. A 3 out of 5 (yes, I've been watching far too much X-Play).
Music: By far some of the best music and music changes I've heard in years. 5 out of 5
Combat: This is the second biggest complaint I have with this game. The combat system is very VERY bad. The way combat works is as such.
Choose a weapon (sharp thing, pointy thing, sharp and pointy thing, bashing thing, bashing and sharp thing, or pointy ranged thing), or a spell (red, white, and blue for your wonderful colors folks!). Now you're ready for combat.
When something attacks you, lets say... 10,000 cliff racers (an annoying flying lizard that apparently breeds faster than rabbits). You begin by throwing a spell, throwing an object, or hitting your opponent with a weapon or spell through touch. Through this method you learn two things. Magic owns everything, and although you appeared to hit the big monster with your sword, you didn't. The game has a real 'slash and pray' feel to combat, and often you will find that combat itself is just annoying after awhile. Very often the monsters will have no dynamic combat options open to them at all and will happily walk right at you, while you happily throw fireballs into their head. On the off chance you chose to be a archer, SHAME ON YOU! FOOL! MORROWWIND IS NOT FOR RANGED COMBAT WITH WEAPONS!!! FOOL!
I kid you not, trying to train up your marksman skill is akin to bashing your head against the wall, it took me hours to find even one person who would train the skill for me via money. In addition to this, your ranged attacks appear to do even more poorly if you so much as touch the mouse and move with your target.. god damn that lead shot physics... It is often better apparently, to stay perfectly still, firing arrows in the same straight line (which, thankfully, most monsters will happily walk in), and pray you hit rather than using, you know, marksmanship to actually hit your targets. Thankfully Fireballs are not so hindered.
In fact, that single spell, along with ice ball, and shock ball, (the various balls of spells may not be labled as such, we are not responsible if you go insane looking for spells that I created), will get you through the game just fine. There is the off chance you might want to heal, but for that you have alchemy and... you guessed it, more magic.
Combat: 2 out of 5
This of course brings me to the diverse magic system of the game. You see, the game decided that it would let YOU make the spell. So remembe the following, Fire-Ball (10-50 damage), Ice-ball (10-50 damage), and shock ball (10-50 damage). Congratulations, you now have the secret to winning the game. Although I give the magic system points for being dynamic and versitle, the spells essentially have two effects: Make the game too easy, or are completely useless.
Behold, how magic defeats all things in the universe.
You are walking through town. You see a locked chest, at a ONE HUNDRED for the points requried to defeat the lock. Dear god no! Whatever will you do now!? Oh, what is that, you're a wizard? What level, 10? Dear god, then you can open that lock no problem! Never mind that theif who will need to wait till he gets closer to level 30 to even have a chance, he clearly doesn't know what he is doing. Magic solves this problem... with a simple (player name) OPEN ALL for 100 points, a simple spell opens every lock in the game and costs you about 400 gold to make.
Problems sneaking past the guards to get that valuable dimond, well no more! A simple spell will happily BRING that item to you. HOWEVER, don't try to use invisibility, the most useless spell in the game, to get past those guards. It will do two things: Destroy your mana supply, and fail. I present to you this real life example.
"Oh no, someone has stolen my gold... they were invisible... blast... I will never catch them."
And the morrowwind example.
"THEIF!! DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE! I SAW YOU THERE!! DIE DIE DIE DIE- oh wait, you're a wizard? ... BLARG! *dies*"
I kid you not when I say it is useless... but thankfully with the various flying, water walking, breathing, bind weapons, and red white and blue spells to throw at your opponents, you will never need it anyway.
Magic system: 3 out of 5
Now what about the world itself? Morrowwind does not disapoint when they said they give you an entire island to explore...
....
and explore..
and explore...
and explore some more.
In fact, walking can litterally take HOURS, and god help you if you go into any mountains, the cliff racers will eat you alive... or at least die 10,000 times before finally killing you. The problem is so bad, even poor NPCs took to trying to solve it.. It met with limited results.
"AT LAST! A SPELL THAT WILL ALLOW ME TO JUMP TO WHEREVER I NEED TO GO! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! And... JUMP! Wheeeeeee!! Yahoo!!!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!! *reading a book* WHEE!! *begining to fall back to earth* ... Uh oh.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! *splat*"
Although the game has several systems in place to get from point A to point B... unless it really is in the middle of nowhere, I have found a cheaper, and more efficent system, is to simply cheat. COC (insert town name) is the greatest cheat in the history of Morrowwind. You can litterally save hundreds of hours of game time by using this system. Best of all, it is better than the cheap mark/recall system the game employs.
So, although the world is big, has a lot of things to do in it, and is generally very VERY pretty... shorten some distances. A two day journey REALLY shouldn't take me two days.
A 4 (for pretty landscape) out of 5.
Next up on the list is the computer AI. Morrowwind has the worst AI I have ever seen... I present to you this real life situation.
"Give me your wallet!" "HELP! POLICE!!! POLICE!!" "Crap! *run away*" one worlds funnie-*ahem* wildest police chase video later. "Okay, you're under arrest, you will go to jail, stand trial, and return the property."
Now... Morrowwind.
"*KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL*" "*KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL*" "*STEAL* *STEAL* *STEAL* *STEAL* *STEAL*" *get caught because you fell asleep*
Guard: YOU THERE! Halt! You have a choice, you may pay a fine and return the goods, or you can go to jail!
Do you A: Pay the fine and return your stolen goods (which, btw, takes every last thing on you that is stolen, regardless of where it was stolen from, who it was stolen from, or when it was stolen).
B: Go to jail (and take stat/skill damage from it)
Or C: Resist arrest
Well, I vote for... D none of the above. Instead, as the guards come to arrest you, promptly drop every item you have in the game on the ground. Clothes, armor, swords, weapons, whatever you have, drop it. This will form a nice pile of items at your feet, just be sure to keep your gold on you so you can pay the fine. Then, when the guards have collected their 20 or so gold from you, pick all your stolen goods up, take them to the house of the person you just killed because you really liked their house and wanted to live in it instead (and his neighbors will never question where he went), and leave it there until you can find a nice person to sell it to (I recomend a person known as the creeper, he buys almost everything from you, and a simple coc caldera will get you to him).
AI: A 2 out of 5
Morrowind is a good game honest. Its character creation system is a bit sad, but other than that, and a few small issues, it really does shine through as a RPG... just don't expect much in the way of random interactions... and... oh wait a minute... I knew I forgot something...
... that damn ass swaying in the breeze problem... DAMNIT! Yes, sadly, and for some unknown reason only on the male avatar, the ass (especially in certain armors) sways back and forth again.... turning at angles that a rear end just wasn't meant to be able to turn... However, just this once I will look over this feature for two reasons.
Although Marcus had his rump swaying in the breeze, a FPS screen is accessible and...
Melissa, thanks to the wonderful clothing options in the game, looks like a school girl.
Morrowwind: A 3 out of 5 |
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| Well damn |
[Apr. 1st, 2006|05:15 pm] |
Looks like I havn't updated in a long time, which is sad, since I've been meaning to update so.. I'll just do an update list in the order that this all came about (seriouslly, I can't believe I forgot to post some of this shit.)
1. I was completely wrong about ST-V-SW.net It truly is crap and after seeing the actual calculations of Mike Wong, I concede ST-v-SW to star wars. :(
2. I've seriouslly considered quiting the Maryland 5th militia.
3. Due to an unforseen issue, I've changed my major from History to computer science. It will be faster and easier for me to pass.
4. Final Fantasy, I hate you.
5. To further that goal.... Xenogears, I hate you too.
6. I'm never going to play Ultima Online Again.
7. (thought I had deleted this one, but guess not) Due to a lack of good opponents, I'm no longer playing chess. Seriouslly, 99% of the people I play can't and... well I just can't keep subjecting myself to that...
8. Since Ashlyn is enjoying the larp... I guess I'll give it one last chance.
9. I must admit that my best friend coming out of the closet worried me, but after a phone call the other day, I think everything will be a-okay with him.
10. I love the look on your face.
Now pardon me folks, but I must conteniue my favorite holiday. *fools of the april* |
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| blarg... |
[Feb. 22nd, 2006|03:01 am] |
I HATE dreams where people I know DIE and,
Where I am unable to wake up and,
Could SWEAR I WAS up.
...
That is all. (pardon me while I get banned from some server) |
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| N... C... C... 1... 7... 0... 1. No bloody A, B, C or D! |
[Feb. 13th, 2006|11:38 pm] |
"Well we have this brand new model here that allows you to take pictures, play movies, record video, play your MP3s, buy movie tickets, concert tickets, has tons of games, pictures, sounds, organizers, not to mention it also has voice tags, voice recording, horroscopes, up to date weather, is water proof, solor powered, nuclear powered, has GPS built in, will help plan your day, your diet, your life, keeps a calander, an alarm clock, will upload from your laptop, PDA, or PC, AND features internet access! BEST OF ALL IT'S FREE!"
"How about one that lets me make a phone call?"
"Thats extra."
The cell phone is the most evil invention of man kind. I hate them. I hate them with a passion that I simply can not convay to you mere mortals. You see... when I was younger all I wanted was a single cell phone so that when I was riding my bike around I could call my friends and be 'cool' about it. My parents wouldn't let me have one... I was very sad.
And then one day my parents brought home a cell phone for me after I had long since detached myself from ever needing one. At first I was a bit... put off by the device. It didn't quite fit well into my hand, the green screen was a bit off, and the ring was a bit on the annoying side. With a bit of effort (turning the volume down) I had a working and useful phone though. It grew on me quickly.
And then my parents decided they were going to change companies. "BUT WAIT!" I yelled. "Why are you telling me this!?" The answer? Because they needed to get me a new phone. I told them if that was the case I didn't need a new phone. I liked my current phone and I didn't want a flip phone.
So my parents decide that they will 'surprise' me. This is not something that has EVER gone over well so one would wonder why the conteniue to do it. Let me put it to you this way folks... I don't even celebrate my birthday... I hate surprises that much. I am tempting to hit people when they surprise me, honestly. The reason? It's NEVER GOOD. People may mean well, but generally, surprising me I see as more of an insult than anything... as if there needs to be some special condition to do something nice for a person. However, my parents did mean well... or as well as they could mean when they do in fact go behind my back.
And so I was surprised when I awoke with a new phone one day. My old phone I quickly rescued before it could be thrown away. It sits a monument to what phones should be in a small box in a safe.
My new phone was smaller than my old phone but not a flip phone. One neg, one plus. Unfortunently, it was the worst phone in the universe at the time. It had the 'ability' to do a ton of cool stuff... but not the 'will' apparently. For example, it is the only phone in HISTORY that could download ringtones but couldn't use them! I kid you not, there was no way to USE your new ringtones. I went over to Verizon to PROVE THIS FACT one day. The phone had sound problems, signal issues, was on an expensive plan, and wasn't even a decent color (puke gray folks... I don't know how they made it, but they did).
So the phone set around the house, turned off, for four months. I refused to touch it. My mother would beg me to take it with me places. Finally I was forced to use the horrid thing when I needed to search for jobs, since no one would call my house phone since I, "might not be there."
... And so began my true hate of cell phones. Everyone saw my cell phone as a personal invite to call me. EVERYONE. People began to 'text' me constantly and when they were not doing that they were calling me. Finally I had had enough and I told a lot of people to just stop calling me period, that if I wanted to talk to them, I'd call them. It was a bit mean, but it had to be done.
And so I carried the thing around. After a while I would just leave it laying around and generally forget about it. Unfortunently, using the thing so often had dulled my ability to remember numbers. I was now dependent upon this evil device.
And then, just when I was accepting my fate, my parents told me I needed to get a new cell phone.
...
I told them that not only did I not want a cell phone any more, but that there will not be models that I will like. My parents began to tell me all the 'cool' things they could do with their new cell phones at cingular and I promptly informed them that, like many people now, they think that headache somehow equals cool.
My parents, stuck in their posistion, refused to let me get out of the deal with out a new cell phone. Seeing that they were about to just buy one anyway, I managed to point out that there was a SINGLE NON FLIP PHONE left in existence.
And then... the people at the store promptly began to tell me why it was a bad idea to buy that one... and furthermore, why all these 'free' phones were much better because they had all these 'cool' options. I tried to explain to them that I don't want these cool options... they seemed to ignore me and my words, it was clear they had become cell phone zombies. The more your cell phone did, the better it was. That is what they all believed.
And so... it arrived in the mail today. I took out the small thing, no bigger than my palm, and with a thickness that is smaller than a D6. I picked it up after everyone downstairs, who had turned it on for me and charged it already (you'd think I could open my own mail, you know?) and looked at the bright, almost blinding screen. I looked through the options. Games... and downloads... and internet oh my.
... And there it was. Ringtones. I went through all the options and finally the browser managed to open it all on up.
Did it let me download ring tones for a price? No.
Did it have the ringtones I wanted. No.
Did it even have ringtones that I could tolerate... No.
It had "American Idol."
...
No... that's it. In the only section of Ringtones I found remotely appealing, "TV HITS," there was ONE fucking ringtone. "American Idol."
...
...
As far as I'm concerned the cell phone is the most evil device made by mankind, and it needs to be destroyed.
Mr. Scott... damn do I feel your pain. |
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