perhaps a Gingrich/Santorum team up to take on Romnet?

which one is the top?

<share crash>

[I am currently in World 4 in the county just to the RIGHT of dublin...]

I saw this when it appeared on Steam the other day, so I thought I'd give it a go. Well the account creation screen seems to be so ineptly programmed that it won't accept any password I enter. I'm glad I've gotten to the point where I don't have the patience for things like this anymore. I figure with something as rudimentary as that flawed, the rest of the game really can't  be worth my time. Oh well...deleted....gone...moving on.

you really aren't missing anything... i saw it on steam too and decided to download it simply because i have been immobile for about 5 weeks and have been running out of games to play.

This game is actually a web browser game that takes up around 500mb on your hard drive (it reminds me vaguely of evony)... I am stunned that steam let this crap in their store. <-- maybe too harsh?  it just seems waaaaay out of place as a steam game.

Basically you might spend an hour or two reading up and "playing" the game the first time you fire it up, but I am finding myself only spending about 10-15 minutes once or twice a day to send out scouts and build a building or two.

I am currently in World 4 in the county just to the RIGHT of dublin... i might give it a week just because i am so bored - anyone that wants to give it a try feel free to pick a city near me and when i leave I can send you my stuff.

I have also read some complaints on their boards that the game is rife with multiaccounters who are making the game unfun.

The only thing that might make the game more enjoyable would be if the game speed was multiplied x100 for a game of weekend play.


Three big mistakes i made:
1.  I thought that we could move buildings around for free... apparently that was due to a beginner credit that was invisibly counting down every time i moved something... i was moving my resourse pile around so that i would maximize stone or wood production as needed... now it is stuck forever by the stone production (instead of in between to balance out production for the long haul)

2.  The research tree is nonsensical (in a couple of ways)...
A- there is a little number in the pictures which make you think that you need that level of research - nope... it is based on the level of your account (which is incredibly slow to advance).  So i was sitting there advancing my food research to such a level that i thought it would unlock wheat and pigs, but it would not unlock.
B- some research items that require much higher level are way to the left (where you might think that beginner research items would be)

3.  I waited too long to build the merchant house which has really left me in a jam - i would suggest building it early (right when it comes available at lev5 (i am currently level 7 i think)


a few hints:
Be sure to build wood and stone production and focus on orchards until you get up to level 6 or 7 (bondsman or freeman i think) - multiple food items give you a bonus but only if they are equal amounts (it seems like in early game there is a bigger bang for double and tripling rations of one item instead of having multiple food items).

don't sweat building an army - you can't build anything but peasant troops until level 6- right after a new world start i am finding 10 peasants can go out and fight wolf lairs and minorbandit stuff - i generally just put leftover peasants into the army because you have to wait sooooooooooooooo long for buildings to build up as you get further into the game.

definitely build banquet stuff (can be used to boost your level over time) and food multipliers during the early game (you can double rations so that peasants come in faster)


the one cool aspect of the game mentioned is fuzz's first post is the faction/house system and that there are parish, county, and kingdom cities... i voted myself in as parish leader, which gives me access to build out the parish city.  there are in-game forums where you hypothetically can communicate, but no one is doing that at this point (only a few days into a new game world).

============================
the most annoying thing for me?  about 50% of the time when you click your shortcut to get into the launch screen - around 50% of the time they wont put the start button in their launch screen... so you have to restart around 3 or 4 times just so you can get into the game for 10 minutes and log off.

[Therkla, the Cliffport Police Department, and a pre-Order Belkar Bitterleaf.]

wow... just catching up on reading a bit and then saw this thread

here are the end results of the kickstarter campaign
====================
14,952
Backers
$1,254,120
pledged of $57,750 goal
0
seconds to go
====================


my favorite pledge...

Estimated Delivery: Dec 2012
Pledge $5,000 or more
1 Backer SOLD OUT (0 of 1 remaining)

Your original D&D character, based on your descriptions (within reason), gets a walk-on cameo in The Order of the Stick webcomic sometime this year. Plus, you get an original signed crayon drawing of that character, an autographed copy of War and XPs, and the Roy Greenhilt magnet.
Estimated Delivery: Dec 2012

direct link to rich's updates on the project
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/599092525/the-order-of-the-stick-reprint-drive/posts


the stories picked by a backer have been announced

I've also gotten a lot of questions about what the "Backer's Choice" PDFs are that were mentioned on the Monster in the Darkness' charts. Scroll down the list of rewards to the $1250 level: three stories where the main character is being chosen by a backer rather than by me. I'm also ready to announce which three characters these stories will be about: Therkla, the Cliffport Police Department, and a pre-Order Belkar Bitterleaf. All three stories will be delivered to all backers once they are completed, too, so that's three more things you have to look forward to.

interview... with a funny one panel at top
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/02/07/rich-burlew-kickstarter-order-stocl/

I know its dumb to complain about, but everytime I have been at a farm... there has been at least one other farm within 5 or 10 miles.

it seems weird to me that this is THE ONLY farm that is inhabitable.  going there for medical help made sense, but after the first dustup between the two groups, why didn't the old man say... go down a few miles to the ol'Johnson farm (it could use some fixing up but is defensible and you can do some farming while your ol'lady pops out a future zombie etc.)

2112 by Byrne (this thread is going to make me dig it out again)
Watchmen
The Dark Knight
The Killing Joke
Rising Stars (I guess it was a series technically and I only really liked the first third of the series - but it initially read like a graphic novel/miniseries) - there was also another series that was more in line of what this thread was meant for I think... midnight nation)

Buying votes one at a time when you need a million to win is something his opponents hope he does.

$50 per vote sounds like a deal

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/01/04/what_the_candidates_spent_per_vote.html
(unfortunately the numbers are for iowa... i imagine there must be a site out there that compiles it for each state)

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/14/romney-gives-cash-to-struggling-supporter-at-rally/?hpt=hp_t2

Mitt Romney gave a handful of cash Saturday to a woman who had told him she was struggling financially after an event in Sumter, South Carolina.

An aide said the GOP candidate gave the supporter "what he had on him" - about $50 or $60.

The woman, Ruth Williams, met Romney earlier in the week and told him she was having trouble making ends meet. On Saturday, Romney recognized Williams while he was shaking hands with supporters after a rally, an aide said.

Romney spoke to the woman and handed her several bills.

well that's one way to get votes.  I could use 50 bucks to buy a few six packs of Guinness, Mitt

I wish she would have given back the money and asked for a job...

Colbert Super PAC has a new ad out  "Mitt the Ripper"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay0UAeUmrWQ

i loved it... but i wish they said it was Bain that was a serial killer (and then asked the question - who should go to jail for all these murders?)


I think it is awesome that colbert is playing up the south carolina presidential committee thing - I suspect that he might push the idea that write in candidates should be allowed... maybe he can sue (for the ability to have write in candidates) and take it to the supreme court?

Open steam.
Click on Friends -> View Friends list
On Friends List click the arrow next to their name if they're listed as online
Click on 'Invite to Trade'
Trade Away
???
Profit

well that is just awesome for people that are sitting by their computer 24/7 lol (thanks though... i was going crazy clicking on every drop down list i could find)

sounds like a great idea!  (unfortunately i can't participate this year)... but hop on over to the gift pile thread in the other forum and i would be glad to give you my coupons so your game prices are cheaper!

http://gamingtrend.com/forums/steals-and-deals/steam-great-gift-pile-%28trade-talk-coupons-coal-etc-%29/

i am looking everywhere (except google) to try and trade... rightclicking on friends - checking out all the drop down menus, etc.

you would think there would be a trade button somewhere lol

If I were to use that seduction technique--walking someone to an ATM so they can see my account balance--I wouldn't get laid.  

yeah that was what i thought was funny... and to the guy that thought the poll was creepy... i didn't take alot of time to figure out funny ways to add options from the story that was linked

the story had some ludicrous allegations... so i was trying to make a poll focusing on those - wasn't expecting serious responses to be honest.  the dude was allegedly groping her, bragging about how desperately sheryl crow wants him, showing of his atm balance and bragging about multibillion dollar deals... nothing you would see in "normal" harrassment stuff (just like the farve thing was fairly unusual).

I didn't notice anyone talking about trading coal and stuff in the other steam threads... hopefully ok to have a seperate one here (i was thinking about putting this in the trading area but i would assume that not alot of people read that section of the forum).

Is anyone going for the max coal?  if so I would be willing to help out if we had everyone here add 1 coal to the guy.


Meanwhile... I have 2 coals (need 7 for a free giftpile game)... and two bs coupons - willing to give the coupons away (or will trade for coal if you don't want yours)!!

-50% off for men of war assault squad
-50% off for bit trip runner


list your coupons here if you don't think you would ever want to use them?


send me a pm to exchange info if you want a coupon or coal

A press release from N-Control:

http://gamerfront.net/2011/12/n-control-responds-to-ocean-marketing-fiasco/15260


Seem like this Kotkin guy was really bad in choosing people to work with. A 38 years old asshole as marketing consultant and maybe business partner that now get thrown under the bus for screwing up badly? A teenage kid as a social media consultant?

a press release with MORE EYEBALLS than ever before imagined possible for that company... congratulations for the greatest free marketing campaign evar!


(also... how many people NEVER heard of this game controller company before?  how many will (almost) NEVER forget the name of the company and product?  Or at least until the product is proven worthy/unworthy)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-29/hurd-pursued-sex-with-contractor-jodie-fisher-while-ceo-of-hp-letter-says.html

During dinners, hotel-room visits and other meetings in cities such as Los Angeles, Atlanta, St. Louis and Madrid between 2007 and 2009, Hurd kissed and embraced Fisher, brushed his hand against her breast and attempted to initiate an affair, according to the letter sent to Hurd on June 24, 2010, by Fisher’s lawyer, Gloria Allred. Hurd, who is now a president at Oracle Corp. (ORCL), wasn’t found to have committed sexual harassment by Hewlett-Packard, and Fisher herself later said the document contained inaccuracies.

Hurd also told Fisher of plans to buy technology services company Electronic Data Systems Corp., a deal that was ultimately completed in 2008 for $13.9 billion, according to the letter. During a meeting in Madrid in March 2008, Hurd walked Fisher to an ATM and showed her his checking account balance of more than $1 million to impress her, the document said.

While there is some dispute of the accuracy of the letter... I thought some of the alleged acts were funny.

they extended the 99cent vip kits... last day is 12/5 (tomorrow)...  jump aboard either virtue or freedom server!

i honestly think he was just trying to build some pub for his books and radio/speaking engagements... when the campaign took off it was almost like he was like "wtf? really?"

whatever he does next... he shouldn't do a nazi broadway play - it would probably make millions!


guess whats half off today?
http://www.amazon.com/This-Herman-Cain-Journey-White/dp/1451666136/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1/182-2297495-2195559

http://us.cnn.com/2011/11/28/politics/cain-accusation-affair/index.html?hpt=hp_bn3

Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- An Atlanta businesswoman has accused GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain of having had an affair with her that lasted nearly 14 years, a claim the candidate flatly denied Monday.

"I was aware that he was married, and I was also aware that I was involved in a very inappropriate situation -- relationship," Ginger White told Atlanta television station WAGA.

White said that affair ended about eight months ago, as Cain prepared to announce his presidential bid. But she pointed to mobile-phone records she said showed Cain was calling her as late as September, including one as early as 4:26 a.m.

WAGA said that when it sent a text message to the number she identified as Cain's, the candidate called back and acknowledged he knew White but had been trying to help her financially.

how was that situation harassment?  And if he is helping her financially... why did she have a "need" to come out publically?  I guess you can only rent silence (from one of my favorite movies - Zero Effect)

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/gingrich-says-child-labor-laws-should-be-rolled-back-so-kids-can-be-janitors.php?ref=fpnewsfeed_beta

During a Harvard address on Friday, Gingrich blamed child labor restrictions for doing “more to create income inequality in the United States than any other single policy.” “It is tragic what we do in the poorest neighborhoods, entrapping children in…child laws, which are truly stupid,” said Gingrich.

“Most of these schools ought to get rid of the unionized janitors, have one master janitor and pay local students to take care of the school,” he added. “The kids would actually do work, they would have cash, they would have pride in the schools, they’d begin the process of rising.”

now, honestly, would you have wanted to be the janitor at your high school while you were a student?

And no one mentions what happens to the high school diploma carrying janitor's family?

f'em, i guess?

damn dirty unions... those guys should all be working two jobs instead of the one that pays them enough to support their family?

This happened a couple of times recently... i have sent a pm to someone, then surf the forum for awhile then look up and see that there is an indicator saying i have a new message

I click on my messages and when it opens there is no new message

does that make sense?

after a lot of thought... i am actually considering picking up a refurb during one of the black friday sales at newegg or amazon (at least they are semi-reputable sites)

Has anyone here bought refurbs?  any horror stories?  there was a sale earlier for 2core with windows 7 and the typical out fittings for $170 on newegg for awhile (i am regretting not pulling the trigger on that one)

originally i was on the look out for a mb/cpu/memory replacement/upgrade for my 6yo old computer (single core bad graphics)... but now that i am seeing some of these sales... refurbs are actually looking more attractive.

(example of the type of system i am talking about --- but a little higher than some of the others i have seen)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883157052

appreciate any feedback

this probably wont be your issue... but slashdot story that is interesting

http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/24/0331206/smart-meters-wreaking-havoc-with-home-electronics

"About 200 customers of the Central Maine Power Company recently noticed something odd after the utility installed smart meters in their homes: household electronics, including wireless devices, stopped working, or behaved erratically. Many Smart Meters broadcast in the 2.4GHz frequency range. Unfortunately, so do many of the consumer gadgets we take for granted these days including routers, electric garage doors, fire alarms, clocks, electric pet fences, answering machines, and baby monitors — even medical devices. The electromagnetic congestion in the home is in some ways similar to the growing electro

black friday sale for vip starter kits... 99 cents

http://goingrogue.cityofheroes.com/en/news/featured-items-at-the-paragon-market-ncsoft-store---special-black-friday.html

I will have to start something on virtue... looks like my other toons are on freedom (highest is 14th level).

when i first logged in i thought i would be able to transfer them since there were messages about global slots needing to be unlocked, but it doesn't look like transfers are included

ps - lulz it has been forever since i played this game... i run over to the entrance to "the hollows" and try to change locations by running into the invisible barrier by the two cops... no go. I remember it being something simple to change zones but can't for the life of my figure it out (every other game in the world you run into the invisible wall and it changes zones!)

ps2 - i have a group called the infinity group on freedom if anyone wants an invite pm me (it is not built out at all just started it two years ago to have the free alt costume)

This has been live for about a week now for anyone interested.  I and a good friend reloaded to replay some of our old Hero duo's.

i redownloaded (i played for a few months a year or two ago)... looks like there are 4 global slots (up to 2 heroes per server for freebies?)

what server are you guys spending most of your time on?  what type are your mains? (i have an old magic tank and a flying ranged guy)

anyone have a supergroup?

seriously

Thanks for the heads up guys... whenever i did a quick search in the past it made me think a new mb/cpu would be out of the question (i guess because most expensive comes to the top by default alot of the time)

I will sign up for the news letter but definitely post any good deals you might see (or pm me if you like)

[for those that follow them - does newegg or tiger direct have a history of offering christmas clearance specials like the gaming sites? (i am referring to insane specials... your crazy not to buy them specials)]

I think that getting an AGP card would be crazy at this point, you'll spend the money, but it won't go toward something you can use later.


Current integrated cards should be in the same range as what you've already got.

i absolutely understood that but i was hoping to get more life (even a year or two) out of my current computer for the 50-80 range (thinking that new mb and cpu combos would be in the $200-300 range).  The question then becomes:

spending 50-80 now and then getting  a new computer in a year or two
vs
spending 100-200 now and getting a new computer in a year or two

and that is the puzzler for me.

I would imagine those integrated video cards are better than my current card?  whoops missed you addressed that in my first read through


thanks for mentioning the CHEAP mb/cpu combos - i will have to think about it (my concern there is that I would simply be getting a better system anyways in a year or two - but you are right in the fact that at least i would be buying components that can transfer or were re-usable).

If you can wait until the end of the month, Newegg usually puts together some good combos on the cheap

would those be christmas specials you are talking about or normal new combos of the month?

for those that follow them - does newegg or tiger direct have a history of offering christmas clearance specials like the gaming sites? (i am referring to insane specials... your crazy not to buy them specials)


Also... can one of the vid card gurus comment on the spec comparison above?  am i reading it wrong that the hd3650 is the better performance card? between the two of them (never mind they wouldn't be considered "gaming" cards)

ps - my plan for any upgrade at this point is to keep running XP, harddrive, and using my big old box with a 500W PS.
ps2 - i think i saw on cnbc that either thailand flooding or japan earthquake will be affecting memory prices... anyone see that yet?

[seem]

cross posted at the wanderers, but i figured more traffic was here...



After 3 years of wanting a new card but holding off until i buy a new system, it REALLY looks like no new system is in the cards for me.   My current computer was put together maybe around 2004(?): ooooold Athlon 64 , AGP 8x all-in-wonder-9600-pro-card.  It was never the greatest system but it held up well over the years... My only gaming disappointment was civ5, which prompted my search for a new video card (never realizing until much later that my cpu might be a problem with that game as well)



So... I started shopping around for AGP cards to go into my current old old box...

narrowed down between
Ati HD 3650 1gb ddr2
Ati HD 4350 512mb ddr3

I ended up buying the 4350 on amazon a few hours ago

it wasn't until i saw this website that I started getting serious buyers remorse
http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=585&card2=562

while they didn't have an AGP version of the 4350 to compare straight up, I was kind of shocked that the newer (lol !!!) Ati series video board would seem to have worse stats than the 3650


ATi Radeon HD 4350
Core Clock:   600 MHz
Shader Clock:   600 MHz
Memory Clock:   500 MHz (1000 DDR)
Memory Bandwidth:   8 GB/sec
FLOPS:   96 GFLOPS
Pixel Fill Rate:   2400 MPixels/sec
Texture Fill Rate:   4800 MTexels/sec

ATi Radeon HD 3650 AGP
Core Clock:   725 MHz
Shader Clock:   725 MHz
Memory Clock:   800 MHz (1600 DDR)
Memory Bandwidth:   25.6 GB/sec
FLOPS:   174 GFLOPS
Pixel Fill Rate:   2900 MPixels/sec
Texture Fill Rate:   5800 MTexels/sec


and then to top it all off all the user comments from 2 years ago on various sites saying neither were gaming cards!! lol

Luckily Amazon let me cancel the order...

Seriously... what would be a decent video card (for an old AMD 64 Athlon system)
i currently have this video card
http://www.gpureview.com/all-in-wonder-9600-pro-card-78.html

it plays all the games I want on lower settings: guildwars, lotr, team fortress 2 etc with almost no delay or problem (except once in a while Guildwars will make the screen go fuzzy).

my big disappointment is not being able to play civ V and some other newer games that require newer shaders or open gl 2.

while it is not a "gaming card" do you think the HD3650 would be worth purchasing?  (i have seen refurbs go for less than $50)

Also, what is the comparable nvidea card series- agp wise?

And before you say - buy a new computer or new mb and cpu, I just don't see that being a possibility for less than $100


Appreciate any comments on any of the cards above (former owners?) or recommendations for a reasonably priced upgrade that might let me give some of the newer games a try (shader 4 and gl2)

I'm having a blast, and the shorter games make a big difference.  Not sure I'll play much if any SR again.



Eve is back!

i am approx 21-12 in dominion with teemo... loving this game mode - hoping ranked in dominion won't blow (but i don't have high hopes)

had a 6 minute game because of an afk on other team - worst length game is in the 24 minute mark (and i think that was when we made a big comeback and ended up with our countdown points at 6 or so)  - the vast majority have been between 15-20minutes (one of the reasons i focused on Twisted  Treeline is that it is potentially shorter than rift, but the nature of gamers seems to be to drag out the game into 50 minute marathons whenever possible - dominion does NOT allow people to drag out the game too far past 20 minutes)


I wish they had thunk outside the box like this with twisted treeline (starting higher level or special items or whatever)

the most repeatably successful strategy I have had is 3 go top - i take mid then ghost top (to finish off enemy or cap point while my team is fighting) - the other guy takes bot and holds...

then i stay at top to hold with mushrooms for a bit before i go back to buy

where it all falls apart sometimes is when people insist on going for the 4th point capture when they aren't strong enough.  res happens so fast that when the enemy come up to defend the 4th point its easy because they are full from just being revived while my team is half health.



the biggest repeatable mistake i see people make is not hitting people that are capping the point... the slightest damage from a champ will knock them out of capture  (so hit multiple people then run back to make them chase you through the point and then go back to hit them again)

FYI - new season starting up... I will probably be moving on to another team within a season or so... so if you want to join up and get some tips and take over the team give a shout.

Took a quick glance through the thread and didn't see this link

DO NOT click link if you haven't seen episode 9 yet...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owf6D2vfZqM&feature=player_embedded


pretty funny but it seems a little fake... (the dude holding the camera comments make me laugh)

"they liiiiiieeed to him!"


even if it is fake... i think that if youtube was as widespread as it is now when the first book came out... I think there would be several authentic good versions of this type of reaction.

maybe there should be a film documentary that films people reading the series (and then just show the highlights of when they get to the good parts)

RIP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH_NvYPBDY0#t=04m01s

my 2.5 reboot:
what is that kid now 20?  he knocks up his girlfriend and now he is the man (the half man comes down the pike in 9 months)

looks like the team is losing a couple of members... a new season is starting in a couple of weeks give a shout if interested in joining the team

so has anyone setup a society yet (i assume the old pay members have one?)

currently playing french on the EU server and brit on the antigua server (but willing to switch to another either french or spanish - i like french only because it seems to be least populated and i prefer to fight from an underdog position)

They flipped the F2P switch to 'ON' today, for those that have been waiting for this. Although their website now says that the result of this flipping of the switch killed the servers (servers: OMGWTF...players? Logging in? CRASH DIVE!!!) and that they won't be back up until 4 PST or so so you might want to just relax about playing today.

it amazes me that companies can still be surprised by this... even after it came up --- MAJOR avatar warping in the begining area

do we have a society up and running?

(it would seem to me that the lightly populated french or spanish would be susceptible to allowing a solid group of players from here or OO gaining the governor slot of a town)

first market tomorrow and first race next tuesday... we have two spots available on the team to people that post here and/or OO

It always worries me when someone in a design position isn't even slightly open to criticism, and in fact lash out angrily at it.

sounds like a good fit for the company?

 

good to hear that the game is getting on track

Luke Halliwell, who was apparently a Technical Lead at RTW, has some informative blog posts up addressing where they went wrong.  part 1, part 2, part 3

Some parts of it sound depressingly familiar 

Press interest was built by incredibly elaborately-constructed demos, choreographed with clockwork precision.  Our team of QA ninjas trained night and day so as to be able to act out the same scripted combat scenario on demand (they were actually pretty impressive to watch doing this!).  At first, the press would just watch these sessions as examples of “live” gameplay.  Later, they’d be allowed to join in, but would be so outnumbered by our staff that they would be forced to stay on the rails of our script.

w o w - why do companies think fraud is a great demo?  (i have seen this personally as well)

I could only imagine the netroar that would occur if we replaced the GOG in the title of this thread with... Steam