n00b here. What are my GT & friends-related guild options? I know JSHAW via OO runs with ORDER OF THE BLACK FLAG. Just looking for a casual experience--if with acquaintances, all the better.

Fresh off the shuttlecraft and pretty much overwhelmed. It's not EVE or anything, but drowning in menus and struggling to understand where I should be putting points skills-wise.

Gavrilod Mudlegdig is born! Many Pakled out there? Soldek was my test character. Not sure if I'll play him much. I was going to make a Vulcan android but got impatient.

Actually, started playing PUG multiplayer campaign mode last night, and it was a lot of fun. I even seemed to do well, which was odd. Can I assume if my opponents were nicknamed, they were real people? Or could they have been replaced with bots mid-match?

Appreciate the philosophy behind hiding k/d ratio, but it's also frustrating. Objectives may come first, but I still want to know how effective I am in battle.

It's really not a disappointing multiplayer game (presuming you can connect to your friends, which I see some are having problems with), not even with random strangers. It's just nothing new or fresh, with minor exceptions. The only trouble with waiting for it to hit $10 or $20 is, I imagine, most of the community will have faded away by then.

I actually thought it was kind of an interesting touch that the SP campaign was just like the MP, wasn't that their whole "thing" - unifying Co-op, SP and MP?

They just made it sound like so much more, though. Letting you play an objective-based team shooter solo may "unify" SP and MP, but it doesn't necessarily make for a cohesive, immersive, and fulfilling narrative experience. Even BFBC2 could muster an attempt at a solo campaign worth playing, and it had its roots in a franchise defined by multiplayer first, if not multiplayer only (with the exception of the console-only original Bad Company, IIRC).

I feel like I've paid full price for an extremely nice re-skinning of the same team shooters we've been playing for the last decade. It's not bad in itself. It's just nothing new. Kudos to the marketing team for separating me from my cash via pre-order, which is something that's very hard to do. It's my own fault; there was no pre-release Quick Look. No demo. No beta. I bought the hype, and the beautifully produced trailers.

Thanks Homard! PM sent.

Moliere: I'm sure any of the game's legion of fans would tell you, emphatically, yes. Though I don't know if I'd bother with the original if you don't have it already. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the sequel contains everything the original did, and more.) I'm not crazy about the game myself, but there's nothing else out there quite like it. You'll definitely get $10's worth out of it.

Homard, at the rate we've accrued four interested parties, I'm sure four more will be easy to pick up. OO/GT is the extent of my contact unless I can get any friends interested (that I would vouch for). Dunno if any of you guys aren't members of other neighbouring forums.

Sounds great, Pete! Thanks for stepping up. Isn't that only four, though? You already noted I'm the same as Sudy over at OO, but you have me on there twice? Or are you getting two shares, one for your brother also, as you mentioned?

I also have Blackhawk interested over at Octopus Overlords. Not sure how to confirm reliability, however. BH is well known, and as Sudy Nym I have trading feedback at both forums.

As I posted in the Steam thread in the deals forum,

Anyone interested In Just Cause 8-pack? It's 59.99, 7.50 per share. Unfortunately I don't have the spare $60 to organize, but I'd sure appreciate going in on it. If anyone wants to be the money collection monkey, I'll see if I can wrangle up other participants.

On, I presume, until 1:00 pm EST tomorrow (Monday), but I'd need to have my participation sorted out by tonight.

Edit: I won't be checking this thread again. Please go to the trading forum thread if you're interested. http://www.gamingtrend.com/forums/index.php?topic=42406.120. Thanks!

(Cross-posted at OO) Anyone interested In Just Cause 8-pack? It's 59.99, 7.50 per share. Unfortunately I don't have the spare $60 to organize, but I'd sure appreciate going in on it. If anyone wants to be the money collection monkey, I'll see if I can wrangle up other participants.

You can also get a 15% discount when you buy WotLK with a Cataclysm pre-order, so around $67 total. I realize this isn't much help to those who already own all the expansions, but it might apply for someone. Not sure whether there's a similar deal for upgrading to BC, or all three at once.

So yeah, which one(s) do I need to buy to have everything? Or, which one(s) do I need to buy to have the good stuff?

And, does Disciples III suck, or rock?

I'd been hoping they'd stretch out his time in the mental hospital and perhaps change the format entirely. 

I agree that House/Cuddy is weird. Or more that it's odd considering how hurtful he'd been to her over the past couple of seasons. And the way that she dropped Lucas like a stone. But, I don't find it unbelievable. And I'm sure they'll find ways to make it dramatically interesting. I do miss Wilson, though.

I've got no problem with it, except for the past few seasons I've found the characters more interesting than the cases, and wish they'd play with the format. No need to have a new case every episode. Some episodes could lack a traditional case. Others could stretch cases over multiple episodes.

I really have no issue with House + Cuddy, or House being less miserable. Characters need to change and grow, or they won't be interesting. Seven seasons in, that's the only thing the show has to keep it fresh. I'll admit I haven't found the first few episodes to be particularly strong, but it's the cases that are the problem, not the main characters. Honestly, the cases have pretty much gone steadily downhill since somewhere in season 3.

Sims 3 World Adventures - $14.95

Can anyone confirm this will work with the CD-ROM version? I don't see any indication to the contrary, but just want to be sure.

Haha, I'm not at all surprised Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa is in it.

Seriously though, I don't understand why anyone bothers to make movies based on video games anymore. Anyone over the age of 18 knows they're going to be horrid.

Please sell me on this game.

I don't know a lot about Warhammer. I don't even particularly like football. But I love the idea of a quirky, turn-based sports game providing there's statistical depth. I'm not talking about OOTP-level depth; but is there any stat tracking or season mode? I'm the kind of guy who would play the Mario sports games to death were there only decent stats tracking rather than the typically shallow arcade/tournament modes.

Eh, even taking longer to level, seemed pretty fun with a gun or bow I always found. But starting with a pet is obviously much cooler.

so, what mods are must have nowadays?

Prior to endgame, at least, these are my favourites:

Addon Control Panel (manage add-ons and reload the UI from within the game)
Altoholic (check other characters' information without having to log out of current one)
Auctioneer (a lot of features, but most useful for recording recent AH prices so you can decide what to do with loot out in the field--also great for comparing current prices to regular ones on the AH)
Gatherer (remembers where you've found herbs/ore in the past and lists it on the map/minimap)
MailGet (retrieves all your mail at the push of a button--indispensable if you play the AH)
OneBag3/OneBank3 (all bags in one window)
WIM (WoW Instant Messager--tells are displayed on screen in separate windows)
Bartender or SpartanUI (previous is completely customizable; latter is a pre-designed new UI that uses six bars--so should be enough if not raiding)

So I got my wife hooked and we're RAFing it up.

At low levels (before 60? before 70?) are DPS builds for tanks and healers still viable in instances? We don't do every instance, but would like to do some, and I'm wondering if I can spec DPS yet still tank or heal competently. I know you can't do this at 80, but for the time being duoing PvE with a prot pally ain't as fun as I imagine ret would be.

So I'm a warrior trying to decide between 2H and dual wielding 1Hs. At level 22; talents don't come into play. Are the DPS numbers in my profile accurate, or do I need to factor in some increased chance to miss, or something? I know that off-hand DPS is lowered. But basically, I have two 1H level 20s that would seem to be giving me better DPS than a higher level 2H. Does dual wielding typically out-do equipping a 2H?

As a standalone movie, it's really not bad. As Indiana Jones canon, it's pretty ridiculous. I don't regret seeing it, but it definitely frustrated me considering
The Last Crusade has been one of my favourite films since I was, like, nine, and I watch it at least once a year.

The biggest issue I don't think was the 50s setting, Shia, or the sci-fi plot. It was that the trials the characters endured were so bloody unbelievable--for an Indy film! The original trilogy, while outright fantasy, always felt grounded in the real world. Up until the usually supernatural climax, Indy was a fallible hero in outlandish yet imaginable circumstances. In The Cystal Skull, the most ridiculous events occur that the characters should have no reasonable chance of surviving unscathed. Yet they do... over and over and over again. (Excepting the bad guys, of course, who are conveniently whittled down.)

Oops, yeah, didn't notice one character was a DK. Still, to take a DK 55-80 and another character 1-78 in less than 120 hours seems impressive. Then again, maybe not if you stay out of the AH and don't craft.

What if I wasn't so keen on the original? Just fired it up today, actually. It's okay, but feels too much like GTA3 in the country. Vehicle physics are silly, gunplay is uninteresting, and the unique parachute/grappling hook stuff I'm finding difficult to control (and paragliding seems way too slow). The story and dialogue is silly.

The trailers and videos for the sequel look like most of that is fixed/improved, though.

With a friend's help or RaF? I played far more than that a year ago, and while the XP curve was much quicker than at launch, it wasn't that fast. Then again, I spent half my time in the AH.

Anything new and exciting? I quit last October, just shy of level 60 or so. I've never played beyond vanilla. Getting the urge to resub, but I think I'd wear out quickly considering Cataclysm isn't here yet.

Anyone playing these days? Worthwhile?

Moderate Trekkie here. But I heard the ground combat was a snore. What does the world feel like? What is there to do?

What is the difference between Ron Paul and Rand Paul then? Except the first name. I never heard anything racist from Ron Paul.
Wondering whether Myoclonic could have mixed up the names.

Rand Paul is Ron Paul's son. I don't actually know much about him, except I presumed he was following in his father's footsteps.

Eh, I'm just glad I won't have to be disappointed every day, now. Only, it looks like there may be some things to be excited about this time 'round....

I created the dreaded up-to-date mod request thread over at OO for anyone interested. Link! You may find some good advice over there, too. I've got POOP for now, and am looking for additions/alternatives.

Why does every bloody thing need to be in 3D, now?

I don't remember if it was here I was reading it, but one of the reasons Del Toro had to step down was that he apparently wasn't willing/able to invest six years of his time in NZ when it was originally only supposed to have taken three years. Where does the six year figure come from?

[living NPCs]

I do tend to think "Well, if you're making this game so solo-able, why is it an MMO at all? Why not just make it like a Mass Effect Star Wars game and shove a lot of DLC at everyone after launch?"

I see your point, but I think for many (or at least for me) playing an MMOG is about the community aspect more than the gameplay. It's about being able to socialize when you want to, and seeing hundreds of players in your travels that you don't have to team with, but can if you feel like it.

To sum it up, I think I play MMORPGs because they have living NPCs. I wish the games had the depth of single-player RPGs. But these days, those just feel so empty to me.

Gosh you guys. It was just snowing on Mother's Day. Can't you ever be happy?

If his point is that business should be left free to police themselves, then he has proven that his ideas don't work.

I think that's the one libertarian tenet that has come under the most fire in recent years, and deservedly so. It's a wonderful ideal, but not practical. Of course, the government doesn't seem to do a much better job of policing business, but ironically things are more transparent with the government running them in this regard (though not by much).

I suppose in his world, BP would be punished by the market, but you can't wait until after catastrophic damage has been done and then let the market sort things out.

Yeah, I guess that's the point. The libertarian theory is likely true--it's just not always realistic to let the market correct itself when jobs, lives, or in this case the environment, are at stake.

[eight]

Taking a closer look at the linked AP article, segments read like a piece by The Onion. There's a picture of like, eight protesters. This seems to be less "demonstration" and more "interesting way to spend a Saturday afternoon."

"It's fundamentally un-American to oppose the Civil Rights Act," said University of Louisville student Perry Green, flanked by a fellow protester carrying a placard declaring: "Rand The Klan's Man."

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was no doubt a very important, very good thing. But I wouldn't take my lessons on "Americanness" from a lone university student.

Protests are good things. So are university students. But this isn't exactly the informed majority declaring Paul a racist.

I haven't been following along, am not an American, and loathe both political extremes equally. But this has the appearance of an anti-libertarian smear campaign. Paul could probably do a better job of providing a rational context for his arguments, but his opponents are seizing the opportunity to portray him as a wingnut.

The notion of restaurants being allowed to choose whom they'll serve may seem abhorrent to liberals (and you know, most other modern-minded people who aren't racist scum), but I don't think Paul is trying to say he approves of racial discrimination, just that such regulation shouldn't be the purview of the federal government. To insinuate that the man may as well be a KKK member is silly if not downright inflammatory.

Libertarians are big on states' rights. A good example is that abortion and gay marriage should be left up to individual states, because the country as a whole can't agree on the issues. And from a practical point of view, is there a better solution? Now Wikipedia states Paul is steadfastly against abortion and gay marriage, but then, he's a republican with libertarian tendencies. A true libertarian seemingly could have any viewpoint with the condition that they would not believe their view should be imposed on anyone else from a political standpoint.

I don't necessarily agree with all aspects of libertarianism, but it seems to be a political theory that is commonly misunderstood and incorrectly associated with mainstream conservatism or neo-conservatism when it in fact stands in sharp contrast to both parties on many issues.

I apologize, you've taken me far more seriously than I intended. Though I maintain the right to point out insidiousness despite the fact my participation is voluntary.

Brilliant. Sinister. Will cost a bonus subscription fee. What? Screw you, Blizzard. Used to be they put thieves and drug dealers in jail. Now we enshrine them.

I too experience sleep paralysis semi-regularly, but I think these days I'm so used to it that it's more uncomfortable than scary. That said rarely do I experience the blending of dreams with reality that account for the most terrifying experiences reported. It's happened a few times that I can remember, but then I have trouble recalling whether I was truly in an awakened state or it was merely a regular nightmare in which I dreamed I was awake. In my most vivid memory, my bed was surrounded by dark hooded figures (think KKK getup, but black--no reverse discrimination jokes, please).

At least once a month am I aware of waking up and being unable to substantially move any part of my body or speak more than a murmur, though. I also get the weight on my chest/difficulty breathing. It's frightening until you realize what's going on, because you feel like you're asphyxiating (or what you think that must feel like). At least for me, I don't think these experiences much longer than 30 seconds or a minute tops. There are reports of people experiencing multi-minute sleep paralysis.

I suspect I experience both regular sleep paralysis and the dreaded waking dreams much more often, but I just forget about them.

Exploding head syndrome is a barrel of laughs, too. But I experience that extremely infrequently. Usually happens when I'm sleep deprived/have stayed up in excess of 20 hours.

Ah, I presumed "free" meant no subscription fees. (I.e. microtransactions or ad-supported gameplay.) Making the client free, on the other hand, I believe is a great idea from my perspective as a gamer. Unless an MMORPG client is around the price of a one-month subscription or less, I'm extremely unlikely to try an MMOG unless it's reviewed exceptionally well or has a dazzling trial.

Seriously? When did that happen? Is there a premium pay version, or microtransactions? Doesn't look good for a MMOG when they go that route so soon.

Or are you just playing with me?