I think a third of our 4 GT Heroes guys did log in for a bit yesterday, not sure of Romeo_Echo or the other guy. I've added quite a few strangers to my friends list but haven't heard from anyone else here or the smaller forum I hang out at just yet, hopefully we'll get some more as more early access invites go out.

See my post 6 above yours. Romeo_Echo = me.

edited:must..learn..to...count.

[Dreshdae Cantina]

Hey guys, I'm logging into ... Dreshdae Cantina shortly, so please feel free fellow Republic scum to log in there, send me a tell and we'll try to make Gaming Trend Heroes a less fledgling guild.  

I just got my email for early access play, unfortunately have martial arts practice tonight. Will try to take off from work early today and try to play for a bit this afternoon. Otherwise, it won't be till Friday night at the earliest.

The first time I played that section I also went with him, just to see what would happen.  And, any movie buff knows that splitting up in the woods after someone says, "It's probably better if we split up", is a horrible idea. 

Especially after you just survived a dragon attack that wiped out an entire village.

That's how Kirk saw her.

This is how McCoy saw her:


And how the unlucky red shirt saw her:

Scared the crap out of me as a kid.

That is pretty horrid looking. What is that thing? Leech Ape Man?

IIRC that was a salt vampire that leeched the sodium out of animals bodies. Been a long, long time since I watched that epiosode, so I'm far from 100% about that.

The most horrible part? McCoy wanted to get it on with that thing. Well, not really - but they were an item. Sort of

Well, that empire guy specifically says "Its better if we split up" once you exit the cave. I know this, since I've started a new character 5 times ;-)

Yeah, the Stormcloak guy says that too. I was going to split up then thought to myself "well, there's no harm in tailing him. I have no idea where I am, I still don't really trust this guy, and two sword hands are better than one. So I'll just stick close to him and see if he's telling the truth." Hence, stones.

He realized his mistake in telling folks that the janitors needed to be replaced by children and eventually said “What if they became assistant janitors and their jobs were to mop the floor and clean the bathroom?”  I have no problem with a candidate who's open to changing his view based on the feedback he gets to his opinions.  It's when they're inflexible in the face of overwhelming criticism that I get frustrated with them.

As I said, I don't like him because of a myriad of personal failings on his part, as well as his political views in other areas. I will definitely NOT vote for the guy.   However, I'm not going to trivialize my real issues with him by forcing myself to find fault with everything he says, even when it makes some sense to me.  The 4H has kids about the same age raising farm animals (slopping, feeding, etc) for the same reasons.  Are they putting farmers out of work?  Are they establishing and/or enforcing a Dickensian class system?

Yes, abolishing child labor laws would eventually lead to abuse of minors' rights.  But this is where he worded it badly.  From subsequent explanations, he's made it clear that he's not advocating a return to the sweatshops of the turn of the century.  He's essentially advocating a social program, not an economic one.

I remember at the beginning of the year there was some talk about a bill to reestablish the Civilian Conservation Corps as a means to get unemployed workers working again AND rebuilding our infrastructure to boot. If Newt is to impress me then he should think bigger than just janitorial jobs and perhaps redo the CCC as a youth-based local civic and conservation corps to help repaint old public buildings, clean parks, and other civic/conservation like tasks. Then I'll start taking him seriously.

I have to say - one thing I like about using the 360 controller while playing Skyrim on the PC is that the used the rumble feature to good effect. It rumbles when you're hitting resistance during lockpicking and rumbles at certain points when something big (a la dragon) or loud (a la greybeards) is affecting you.

Oh, and witnessed something funny last night, exploring a dungeon. Used my detect life and saw there was an enemy up ahead in a branching corridor. Accidentally hit the RB which is tied to my Unrelenting Shout. It triggered a floor plate which set the swinging door trap in motion. It swung out and impaled on it was my ambusher who fell off, dead, at the end of the swing. I was laughing so hard.

And nothing could possibli go wrong.  Possibly go wrong.

Woolly Mammoths will walk again within 5 years

Jurassic Park Reality Show?  No, just reality.

Put it on an island along with some other big extinct animals and put 20 survivors and Jeff Probst on it. Call it Survivor: Jurassic Park where the one voted out has to live outside the protected compound. I would watch it.

On the other hand, some gamers are going to get the most fun out of enjoying playthroughs of things not knowing how they're going to end up because in a real temporary alliance of 4 "heroes" working together to accomplish a goal those 4 heroes have different personalities and will make different choices and who knows which one may be the one in a position to make the choice for the group at any given time...the rest of the group has to live with that choice since they've made the decision to work together to accomplish the overall objective.  In game terms, this brings suspense, replayability, unpredictability, and real roleplay to the table.

I'm with blackjack on this one, i think, i like the unpredictability, even if it means missing killing a pull or 2 for a tiny bit of exp and loot possibility sometimes....roleplay it...you can do the flashpionts multiple times i understand, and it's the roleplay and replay value you're getting here.

I agree with all points, and I was actually just curious because at the time I thought if I was one of the four people in that situation I would have felt slightly upset because not only did it mar my enjoyment of the storyline (thinking we were part of a band of heroes just like Han, Luke, Leia and Chewie and they would never have blasted folks out of the airlock) but that I may have also been out some XP to boot.

As a point of fact, I do enjoy roleplaying and have roleplayed in groups before. However, in my experience, when roleplaying with friends, I have a general idea of what said friends will do with their character and in what circumstances their choices would run from very "good" to somewhat "bad". But in no cases would I have expected a party I'm playing in to summarily execute NPCs for no good reason - unless we were all roleplaying evil characters. Certainly not "just for the hell of it" which sounds like what Blackjack was doing.

In any case, its no big deal. Like cheeba said, if someone does something that I didn't like in the storyline then I'll probably just re-run it again. No skin off my back. I'll just put the person who marred my experience on my ignore list.  

Absolutely! I would be honored to hear more about your Dad.

This.

My thoughts exactly!

I think I only got to see the Ultima 7 intro on my friend's computer. Never did have the money to buy it back then, nor the time available. I was floored when I heard you could do stuff like bake bread in the game. I am most likely in!

The SSD in my MBA is seriously the best thing ever.  I can't wait until all computers use SSD, it's crazy how much of a performance boost it is.

I agree about the SSDs. I'm using an SSD as the C:\ drive for the computer I built myself and it boots up Windows 7 Pro in like 5 seconds. Updates to Windows are a snap and it seems to make my games snappier too, even though they are installed on a separate, non-SSD drive.

[Spoiler]

I mentioned finally winning that decision in Esseles Flashpoint. What's cool is seeing your character then do something -- in this case it's just a gesture, and a flip of a switch. I think I can share that much vaguely without spoiling anything. It's kinda neat you can see (as in lower left corner here) how rest of the group voted:

About that:

Spoiler for Hiden:

As I recall, the other choice was to shut down the blahblahs yourself. Which was harder in that they were guarded by Imps, but then again, you'd get experience points and possible loot for killing them. Does the venting out the airlock give XP as well? Cause I'd hate to think a chance at getting XP could be spoiled by someone's lucky roll in group chat

I would ask for the word CHRISTMAS to be used more. 

Some people have families (mine included) that celebrate more than one holiday.

My wife is Buddhist and I'm a recovering Catholic. Between ourselves we say Christmas, we say "Merry Christmas" to our closest friends and say "Happy Holidays" to those we know are of different religions and to strangers whose religions or cultural practices we don't know. I think its the polite thing to do.

I played WoW maybe 3 weeks around the time it launched, so when I have to resort to comparisons, I at least reference something else and my comparisons are more just interesting observations.

How about asking them if they've played anything else besides WoW? I bet you dollars to donuts they haven't. Heck, in that list you mentioned I only played STO and haven't followed it since I dropped six months after launch. So I have no comparison other than WOW.

[Spoiler]

I noticed something funny at the end of the first flashpoint. Actually my entire group did, and our chats poked fun at it. Many a laugh was had. So I wonder if anyone else saw:

Spoiler for Hiden:

The cruiser went into hyperspace and the crew cheered Hoorray! We got away! Only to find the Empire ship still there in the viewscreen and still firing on us. We could even hear the ships blaster bolts in the background. So our chats went something like:

"Turn around, you foolish fool! They are still in front of us!
"Credits, shmedits. How can I spend this reward when the Empire ship is still attacking?"
"Um, does anyone else see the big bad ship on the viewscreen?"

 

Just went through the first flashpoint with a PUG. They were pretty cool. It was 2 troopers, a sage, and myself as consular (level 8 so no advanced class yet). It was great that the trooper players chose the "macho rambo" type responses, the sage a more "jedi non-passionate" response, and myself with the "ultra save everyone" choices. We all had a chance to see our characters respond and seeing the trooper macho responses was hilarious.

I can see grouped missions being fun with the right group of people, which would then add to the fun factor of playing the game. The PUG seemed to be easy going folk who just wanted to experience the game instead of power-leveling and grinding. so much chatter and LOLing going on. I can only hope my PUG experience in the full game is as good. I guess that's what the GT guild is for .

Edited to add: I had a duh moment yesterday when I was looking through the general abilities tab and noticed that we get Revive Player and Revive Companion abilities.  Sure enough, they work just like a a rez.  I didn't get the chance to try it on a player, but Revive Companion worked just fine.  I must have missed the Tip for that, because I don't remember seeing any information about player/companion revives.  I would've missed them if I hadn't been poking around the general abilities tab.

OMG! I guess it wasn't one of the default abilities on the task bar, because I was looking frantically there to see if I could do anything to help heal during the flashpoint. They should make a "helpful" popup tooltip pop up when your companion needs reviving during the pre-flashpoint missions. And for that matter, work it into the story so that your first companion does need reviving so you can get used to opening the abilities window and moving the "revive companion/party member" ability onto the taskbar.

Yeah, I love my iMac. Its a great machine.  I play Torchlight on it during lunch every now and then. Thank god I didn't have to pay for it though, work did. These things are kinda pricey

Well, I played the Jedi Consular to level 18 last night and I think I've decided to go that route when the game goes live.  Initially, I was thinking Shadow cause of the Double-bladed light saber, but I think I will go Sage as the lack of healing was noticeable during beta.

Yes, I noticed the lack of healing as well. I made it to the orbital station as Jedi Consular level 8 by mostly sticking to the main quests. Joined a group which had trooper, sentinel, and jedi knight, from levels 12-10. I was the lowest at 8. We as a group died twice from the boss on the main bridge. Mainly because none of us had the ability to heal others.

[FU]

50% off on Steam? Already? Really?

FU, Rockstar!    I'm crossing them off my future PC-version buy list.    What a bunch of BS. This is what these smiles are designed for...

sales happen this time of the year, same as they do every year.  heck, Arkham City is on sale for $24.99 today only days after it's release, so it could be worse-  just think of everyone who paid full price for it on Tuesday.

If it makes you feel any better, I'm waiting until LA Noire is at or lower than $20. Well, that may not make you feel any better but the sad truth is, software prices degrade so rapidly that it doesn't make financial sense NOT to wait until it goes on sale. But, if playing the latest games gives you more enjoyment, then make peace with your wallet and realize that this is what will happen.

Personally I would be glad to have gotten them on sale. I know sometimes I can't wait for a game to drop in price (Skyrim) before picking it up. Other times I am quite content to wait until a game is amazingly discounted before buying it (Limbo today, Fallout: New Vegas yesterday). The fact remains, the OP bought items on sale. That they were discounted further later on doesn't diminish the fact that you saved some $$ by waiting to buy it later.

You already are probably doing better than 99% of the people on this forum, a lot of whom buy games even before they are out. Celebrate your willpower, and your discounted games. You've earned them.

A proposal: if you guys switch to West Coast time zone, you can ally with the Qt3 guilds.  I know there are a fair number of cross-board members, and in general the Qt3 players are friendly and mature (although you wouldn't know it from reading the Qt3 Politics and Religion sub-forum right now ).  This would give a wider group of similarly minded players to play with.  There is currently a Qt3 Republic Guild and a Qt3 Empire Guild, both PvE and both on West Coast time.

I understand if you don't want to switch time zones though.

If you want to do this, let me know, and I'll let the Qt3 guilds know to expect your alliance request.

A question from the peanut gallery: what exactly does choosing the guild's time zone do? Is that just a public service kind of thing, so the random gamer will typically join the guild in the same time zone he is in?

Ditto.

Look one post above yours.

So, here's a minor question that I've been wondering about in the last couple of days: how many of you still bother with having your character sleep? I know that's there's no functional impact in these games anymore (aside from the presence / absence of the Well Rested effect) but for some reason I still try to get my character to an inn (or at least a slaughtered bandit's bedroll) as many nights as possible. That said, I don't lose any sleep over it (ha!) if I'm in the middle of a dungeon crawl and it's not feasible. I think about this on the occasions when I actually see my improved night sky mod and think, "why did I install this if I'm never going to adventure beneath it"?

I suppose it's also relevant that I'm not playing a Thief / Assassin character at the moment, who would naturally gravitate towards nighttime activity. Of course, in that case I'd probably try to sell the ill-gotten gains of the previous night to the merchants first thing in the morning and then sleep through the day...

- Ash

If I'm in town and need to sell a bunch of stuff and all the vendors are asleep then yes, I'll sleep in a bed. Its takes about the same time as using the wait function and I get the added rested benefit. If I'm out in the wild doing stuff and its night out, then no.

Congratulations!

Man I love power-bashing mages out of their spellcasting . Now that I have whirlwind they barely stand a chance. Its like "enemy mage casts spell" <VOICE: whirlwind> HIYO!!! <power bash> <power swing>. Next?

Well, at least someone got it

Got specific questions? Ask away...I've been playing for a while now (late July/early Aug?) and have fooled with most classes up to around level 25.

A page or so ago we were told that we didn't need the trinity for the first flashpoint. Healer, Tank, and what's the third one again.....EPA? Anyway, I was wondering if you found the trinity wasn't necessary for flashpoints up to level 25? Also, what's the max group for a flashpoint, and does the max number include companions - so if the max is 4 then no one's companion shows up in the flashpoint.

Aside from the obvious UI issues the embumberance limits are IMHO ridiculous. I spend 2 hours in a dungeon and 3/4 of that time is inventory managment trying to figure out what to throw away and what to keep and running between corpses trying to salvage the higher priced loot etc. Completely removes the immersive nature of dungeon crawling for me. As a Nord melee'r I really want to wear heavy armor but I am starting to feel the weight, at least the lower tier items, simply prohibits it's use. Do I need to waste Perk points in light armor until I can find "lighter" heavy armor? How are folks dealing with the embumberance limits? I have twice slow walked back to town after clearing a dungeon and I do not think I can do it again, reminds me of the "slow motion running" nightmare.

Imperial heavy armor+shield+sword wielder here. I never slow walk back to town. I always fast walk (open map, click town, fast walk). <OOPS. Meant fast travel>. I sell all the weapons and armor that I will not be using. If I arrive in town after hours I just "quick wait" till the next day. I've also only been leveling up stamina and health, since I just "dabble" in magic.

Arrrrgh! I was hoping to resist the forum effect, but then my friend told me he bought it and loved it. This was coming from someone who didn't like the previous Morrowind and Oblivion games. So that was the last straw. Broke down and got it last night.

As for me, the last Elder Scrolls game I played was Morrowind. Holy crap this is way better than Morrowind! The only things I remember from Morrowind was that getting around seemed dreadfully slow, bashing mudcrabs around the village to level up was dreadfully boring, and reading the NPC dialogue was only slightly better than trying to read the many books scattered around the place. Skyrim in contrast starts out like an epic action movie. I'm actually fighting real people for my first few fights instead of mudcrabs! The hearing the NPCs talk is much better than reading a wall of text! And the environment feel wondrously alive and vibrant. Anyway, looking forward to playing more tonight!

This is an apt description.  Its not really new but it is reconditioned with some new bells and whistles.  Plus its Star Wars! which means:  NO FRIKKIN ELVES!  The fantasy motif has been ruling MMOs from the dawn of time, the sci fi setting of Star Wars would be worth it if this was merely a straight on WoW clone.  Even though it does have its similarities in game play, it has enough to set it apart from WoW. 

I do agree with this. I am also tired of fantasy rpgs and while I saw similarities to WoW the voice acting, story and setting was enough to make me want to keep playing. In fact, I miss it now that the weekend test is over.

Details? Maybe he doesn't need to know them. But damn, what went down in Libya is not a detail Mr. Cain. It was a very big deal. You should at least remember what the hell happened there (note first 30 seconds).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW_nDFKAmCo&feature=player_embedded#!

So yeah, um, I can see why people are comparing it to WOW. I'm just sayin' 

A big thank to you all the veterans. Your service and sacrifice means a lot to us.

I'm in for this weekend as well. 

do you think its a good idea to announce the next game in a series when the current game is not even out yet?...do you think its a good idea to have yearly updates like COD and AC are doing?

Good idea for me? No. Good idea for the companies that do it? Hell yes! It makes perfect business sense to keep making sequels every year, as long as people keep buying them. Hell, look at COD:MW3. Everyone acknowledges that its more or less the same as the previous game, yet it sells millions of copies. Who wouldn't want to keep tapping into that money making machine? In fact, my hypothesis is that the developer of the next COD could take the same exact engine that's in MW3, use it for the next game, and it would still sell millions.

Coolness, thanks! I liked how they did it in Bad Company 2: RMB for the coax just seemed more natural.