I'm really enjoying Pixel Kingdom. I thought the retro graphics might be too much but they actually work out quite well. This is one of those lane defending games (is there a genre name for this?) along the lines of Plants vs Zombies. What sets it apart are the RPG elements and the kind of endless leveling mechanic. You have access to 8 different unit types (which you can choose to level up and provide single gear boosts to) at a time from a selection of about 15ish or so. Unlocking a new class requires gold, which you earn through playing the game. Leveling a class up requires gems which are given every once in a while. The game starts free to of course gold and gems are IAP. This is one of those games that the IAP actually is kind of a detriment to the game design in the sense that the "fun" of the game is iherently in the grinding/leveling aspect. I would love to support the developers, but prefer the game elements be left as is and then have IAP to unlock different skins or graphics or something else. Aside from that, it's freakishly addictive in its deceptive simplicity; it's fun to see how the classes work in combination with each other. I haven't unlocked any of the more expensive classes yet but I look forward to seeing how they mix with the classes I use the most. Thus far I've been very successful using the Monk as a tank, Dragoon as quick fodder, Mage as primary damage and the Cleric for occasional healing.
Why isn't the main girl in the remake named "Ashley"? That seems like an obvious thing to do.
I read somewhere they were going to do Evil Dead 4 aka Army of Darkness 2, then New Evil Dead 2 and 3 before merging the Ash and Mia (new ED) storylines.
I thought it was pretty good but honestly it just made me want to watch Silence of the Lambs again. Jodie and Anthony ftw!!!
I dunno about the guy they got for Hannibal. He's a great actor with a great presence but he's just so freaking creepy looking it's hard to imagine anyone not being suspicious of him. I think that's what made Anthony Hopkins so incredibly perfect for the role. Until he shows his evil side he just seems like a super smart, intense British guy. I really enjoy Hugh Dancy in general, but it almost feels like they go too far with his "empathic" powers. It's one thing to be empathic, and quite another to be psychic. The way they shoot his "empathy" sequences seem much more psychic/intuitive than empathic. In the previous movies it was more of a "put yourself in the mindset of the killer" kind of thing. This version seems like he can do that and beyond, but also take the perspective of the victim as well as take massive leaps in figuring things out from the barest of evidence.
I'm also wondering if this is supposed to follow the Manhunter or Red Dragon storyline or SotL or is it totally unique, i.e. is Hannibal going to be revealed as a bad guy within this show or is it all before any of that. Also wondering what time period it's in, as the review I read noted there's clearly no cel phones or much in the way of computers, etc. Judging by the clothes, maybe the 70s?
Sigh. I was hoping for some big bang this episode but instead it's just more of The Philip Show. Corinne was kind of annoying but I liked that she was standing up to Philip and moving against him in a seemingly well planned manner. But then of course she goes and blurts out her entire plan for no good reason, to Dawn of all people? Miss wishy washy flip flop, really? Seemed like something was edited poorly but maybe not. Then you've got Clueless Eric and Fake Boobs who are just fodder/pawns, it's just all very bizarre. Now Philip has just further solidified his power over the game, I don't get it. He's NOT Boston Rob but somehow they've found a way to cast him in the role. It's almost like the producers are controlling it.
Quote from: Crawley on April 03, 2013, 06:17:53 PM
What I don't get is the relationship between Norman and the blond girl. Don't get what she sees in him now that she's seen what he's like - just a nice quiet guy that faints. It doesn't seem like they would have much chemistry so not sure where the relationship will go other than her using him.
He's a sweet, wide-eyed, "innocent" cutie-pie - at least on the surface. Very much unlike her jerky boyfriend.
Quote from: Roguetad on April 03, 2013, 03:26:11 PM
I thought Elder Scrolls Online was supposed to be the spirtual successor to daoc, based on the people involved.
I thought ESO looked very PvE focused, but I haven't read that much about it. In any case, given the name; CAMELOT Unchained, I think it's pretty clear this one wants to be known as the real DAOC successor.
I pledged, would love to see if they can pull off a true PvP/RvR MMO with no PvE entanglements.
Ep 3 was a good pick up after 2. I like seeing threads of crrrrazzzzyyyy Norman leaking out. The actor has such a sweet angelic face that it's a real jolt when he switches to crazy mode.
I still don't know if I care for all the weird and wacky plotlines on top of the main crazy Bates stuff, but it's hard for me to complain about the hot brother and even hotter dirty cop guy. Yum!
Quote from: Roguetad on April 01, 2013, 04:31:17 PM
It seems like the writers always have a dark, ends-justify-the-means character to push and challenge Rick. Merle, Shane, Merle again, and now Carl. I hope the writers have enough finesse to not turn Carl into little Shane. It's subtle, but he should be his own guy, not a mini Shane. I think Carl's personality hardening does reflect Shane's influence on him though, which I'm betting we will see surface in heated conversations with his dad next season. Regarding Carl's actions in the episode,
Spoiler for Hiden:
they did make the scene ambiguous enough that I really couldn't fault Carl too much. The boy took way too long to drop his weapon, and was very sketchy the entire time...perhaps due to being scared, but it cost him his life. I don't want to see an evil Carl, but a balance between Shane and Rick would be cool.
Andrea spoilers from the finale:
Spoiler for Hiden:
I'm purely speculating, but I think that Andrea was written off the show (departing from the comic storyline) because of the performance of the actress. She just wasn't very good in that role. Maybe she was miscast, or the writers couldn't figure out how to write for her, or maybe she's not a great actor. Either way, it wasn't working. You don't have to be a professional critic to see that something just wasn't clicking with her and the show, despite lots of scenes and opportunities. I'm not sure why.
Her scene with Milton was really tense, and mostly done well. The question by Milton that let her (and the writers) explain her confusing actions over the course of the season was contrived. Her answers were consistent with the Andrea they created for the show: naive and dumb. It's a shame, and a missed opportunity to create a badass female lead character. I really think they dropped the ball with her character. She should have gone out in a blaze of glory. The whole point of her internal struggle during season 1 was finding the strength and will to live on in the new world. For her to go out this season the same way she was trying to in season 1, with a self-inflicted gunshot, just seemed lame to me. They could have done better with her story.
So many comments to make, I'm still reeling a bit from the finale. It made watching GoT premiere right after seem downright dull.
Spoiler for Hiden:
Regarding Carl, it's interesting that both you and I refer to him turning "evil" or "dark" - I think the show is trying to challenge what that even means in a world of zombies. Everything Carl said was true, and in some sense you could argue shooting that other kid was far more merciful than what his dad did to the backpack dude a few weeks ago. And of course the way the kid kept moving forward to hand the gun over really was (deliberately) questionable, just drop it if you are serious.
Spoiler for Hiden:
I agree on the lameness of Andrea's death, but I disagree about it being the actress' fault. With the material they gave her, I think she did as good as any actress possibly could. It was crap material, let's face it. Wishy-washy, whiny, stupid, one bad decision after another, it's like they wanted people to hate her. Even in this end sequence, as others pointed out, why did she wait so long and go so slow trying to get out of the chair? The tension it built was great drama but it was completely non-sensical given that Milton was alive for so long and she should know better than anyone the approx amount of time it takes to turn from her sister. It's not like going slow and quiet was going to make him die slower.
Acting aside, her character could easily have been turned around at any point by giving her her sharpshooting skills back and having her snipe a ton of zombies, take out the governor or doing anything really cool. Apparently all you need to get back to the in crowd is save someone's old family photos I almost wonder if they wanted to send the message that they were truly divergent from the comic, on top of the "no one is safe" kind of message they've been advertising, I dunno.
It feels like some of the plotting, inconsistencies and contrivances are getting close to out of hand. As mentioned earlier though, as much as some of the plot points drive my crazy, I think the show's strongest points are its small character moments. Still, I'm really getting a bit tired of seeing core characters get killed off. I know they want to make it "realistic" and gritty/harsh, but at some point (as BJ mentioned) you're gonna start losing the audience because they don't know if they should care/invest in any character. Can you imagine if they killed Daryl? I heard there were people writing death threats lol.
This is the first major character departure from the comic, as Andrea is one of the very few remaining originals still left. I'm kind of bummed out. She really starts to fill the void after Lori's death, so I don't know what they are going to do on that front now. I'm wondering if her death was planned from the beginning or partially as a reaction to fans' clear disdain for her this season. Personally I found her mildly annoying but it seemed like a lot of people really hated her. I really liked her dynamic with Michonne, and with Milton as well, and I honestly thought they'd play into the "do zombies have anything human left in them" motif once they were stuck together. Looked like a perfect opportunity to explore that, see Milton have an ounce of humanity left which then saves Andrea. But maybe that's too idealistic and/or obvious an approach. This way was more realistic but pretty depressing.
Gov going psycho was a cool scene, guessing he should be back next season... I thought for sure they'd just take over the town themselves, but I guess it's too big for them to defend. Looks like a lot of old lady fodder to die next season lol.
Loved the start of the Dark Carl arc, particularly when he puts his wishy washy dad in his place.
Quote from: Roguetad on March 27, 2013, 08:47:43 PM
- Monroe must have an unlimited supply of hair product to keep his hair looking so styled. Why does it always seem like he's about to cry? And don't mention Miles, or he will get watery eyes of longing, followed by Angry Eyes!
I'm pretty sure both the Monroe and Miles empire would support same sex marriage, if you know what I mean.
lame lame lame. also can't abide the reuse of the soundtrack from Lost.
Also love Juliette not explaining anything - very Lost lol.
Spoiler for Hiden:
I was annoyed they killed off my pretty boy but I'm not at all surprised. He kind of lifts right out since he didn't get much plotline in the earlier part of the season. I'm starting to get sick of shows killing off key characters for shock value, it's like everybody wants to get in on the act.
Quote from: Roguetad on March 26, 2013, 02:50:57 PM
As much as I didn't like him as a character, Merle was interesting, and could have added value to thier group. I loved the question from Rick, "You don't even kow why you do the things you do, do you?" And Merl admitting to Rick that he didn't, that he was a mystery to himself.
I absolutely loved that line/scene, which of course frustrated me more when they went the route they did. I really think they blew a great opportunity to use the character for at least one more season, particulary in a "triangle" with Daryl and Carol. I would say his plan was out of character, but I suppose the aforementioned scene establishes he just does what he does, which I guess is also kind of cool.
Ep 2 continues with the kind of odd mix of content, and again does well with the mother and son dynamic. It's always on the edge of creepy/perverted/sexy on that front. I really like the kid they got for Norman, he's just the right amount of dorky/awkward, and Vera is excellent as the mom. What I'm less sure about is the Twin Peaks-ish town environment, it kind of detracts from the two stars. Obviously they need more story to sustain a series but I'm not sure this is the right way. If everyone else is corrupt/evil, it kind of lessens the impact of the main characters eventually turning crazy/killer. Unless of course the whole show is based around the town being innately corrupt and turning them. I never saw Psycho so I don't know if that would play consistently, not that it has to.
Crap I didn't get to play Tilt's adventure, but no big deal, this way I get to play more of it come release. In any case, I didn't see anyone post this so congrats to Tilt!
Quote from: Bullwinkle on March 25, 2013, 11:31:18 PM
Quote from: hepcat on March 25, 2013, 11:12:21 PM
I explained myself. You explained yourself. I disagree with your belief that the writers didn't contribute to that final scene.
Don't let it keep you up at night.
You're missing the point. You said, "The anger and love portrayed at the same time during that scene by Daryl was excellently portrayed and written." That scene wasn't written so much as acted and directed. It's not a question of belief or not. This moment was created in the writers' room as they mapped out the season, not by a particular writer of this episode.
Good night.
Check The Following thread, apparently you weren't aware that hepcat gets to define for everyone what is "well written" and what isn't.
Just to play devil's advocate, and as much as I am a raving fan of this show, there were numerous elements I could easily pick apart as poor writing in the last few weeks' episodes. Plotting alone has been terribly contrived to stretch the season out longer and force the confrontation to the season finale. Characters' flipping back and forth with sudden revelations/insights, inconsistencies in timing and travel, all the Governor's new super powers (with one eye!), cheap tricks like the end of last weeks' Andrea episode... I could easily argue this show has shown plenty of poorly written elements.
Luckily they make up for it with some really excellent character moments and classic lines of dialog, fantastic action and zombie gore, plus some really great acting and directing and production values. Would I argue to someone the show is not "well written" overall? Hell no! But then I would say the same for The Following...
I don't know what they may or may not have done since the prior beta, but what I saw was pretty sad. It was almost identical to the opening tutorial from Tabula Rasa, I could almost swear it was lifted directly - but with a bunch of glitches and buggy behavior. I never got much further after some bizarre mob(?) one shotted me and I was stuck in some weird plant/graphics glitch.
So did anyone else watch it? I didn't think I'd like it but I found it oddly compelling and very watchable. What's with the current trend of making crazy/killers accessible and even anti-heros? I'm starting to weird myself out cheering for bad guys and future bad guys
Quote from: Moliere on March 20, 2013, 05:33:48 PM
Are zombie brains invulnerable to fire?
Yes! I assume that since you don't become a zombie until after you die, just dying from burns isn't enough. Probably have to burn all the way to ashes.
That I can understand. I liked American Horror Story: Asylum this season because it was so over the top that I just couldn't wait to see what would happen next. I'll be the first to admit that the writing wasn't exactly stellar, but I was entertained all the same.
But I still disagree that The Following is a well written, which was the assertion by some. And that it should be excused for being badly written simply because it's fiction
You seem to have some very fixed notion of "well written." Personally I think there are a lot of different categories in how well something is written, and in the case of a TV show, how it is produced, edited and acted all plays into it as well. There's overall plot, plot pacing, characters (including likability), character development, dialog, believability, consistency... just off the top of my head. I think this show succeeds in about half of these categories, for me anyway. For an example of a show that I felt was truly badly written, I go to the last seasons of Heroes, where they failed in just about every category I listed.
Quote from: Ironrod on March 19, 2013, 05:14:28 PM
Quote from: metallicorphan on March 19, 2013, 04:38:14 PM
so,this is crap is it?
It's not the worst sf show I've ever seen. It's not very good, either, but I'm intrigued enough by the central storyline and have invested enough time in it already to keep on watching. For overall quality I'd say it's better than V, equivalent to Terra Nova, and a notch below Falling Skies.
I wouldn't say it's better than V - V had much better campy value and a hotter cast. I'd say much better than Terra Nova and agree not as good as Falling Skies. Looks like the second half will be better, and I think they are taking complaints about Charlie's whiny factor to heart so she'll hopefully be improved when they return. And I read one of the main characters will die. I wonder if it might be Juliette, that would have strong impact but ruin the love triangle. Fatty would be too obvious, so maybe the other girl?
Oh my, thanks Ceekay! I love it, yummy hairy chest on him, I had no idea!!!
- - -
Back on topic, I thought last night's episode was great. I am really enjoying the show more and more, oddly though I continue to find all the crazy bad guys far more interesting than Kevin Bacon. Really like Jacob, his plotline with Paul is/was one of the most romantic yet bizarre plotlines I've seen on TV. Roderick is a hoot, can't wait to see more of his origin story. I was trying to count how many loonies there were in the mansion, but looked like a good 30+ so that should make for plenty of fodder since they seem fine with killing off bad guys as fast as they introduce them.
Quote from: Misguided on March 18, 2013, 05:32:29 AM
Keep in mind that if they aren't loaning you money, they aren't making any, so it isn't like this benefitted them, in some way. Unless you are doing a cash purchase, the main point of the appraisal is to assure the bank that they can get most of their money back out if need be.
I may not have mentioned that they collected a $500 non-refundable "deposit" at the time the original deal was approved (PRIOR to inspection). So yes, it did benefit them.
Essentially this is what I think happened:
1 - Sales monkey promises you whatever to get your initial signature and deposit approval 2 - Handoff to someone else, who figures they can make a lot more money by selling a different loan package 3 - "Appraisal" used as a convenient way to kill original deal 4 - They hard sell the second loan; either they win or worst case for them, take your $500 for little more than a few hours of their sales monkeys' time
The Dodd-Frank Consumer Protection Act was meant to protect citizens from different types of corrupt behavior regarding home loans, etc. My example is on the borderline, but surely you can see that having the lender have complete control over the appraisal could be used for all sorts of exploitation.
It's apparently not explicitly illegal, but certainly questionable:
Quote
The interim final rule provides that a person who prepares a valuation or who performs valuation management services may not have an interest, financial or otherwise, in the property or the transaction. The Dodd-Frank Act does not expressly ban the use of in-house appraisers or affiliates. However, because the Act prohibits appraisers from having an “indirect financial interest” in the transaction, it is possible to interpret the Act to prohibit creditors from using in-house staff appraisers and affiliated appraisal management companies.
Quote from: Freezer-TPF- on November 10, 2012, 02:26:58 PM
I've heard nothing good about Quickenloans (primarily that their fees are outrageous). I'd find a good local broker that will shop you around to several banks. If you have a real estate agent you trust, they should have some strong recommendations on a broker.
I ended up doing this, going with a smaller local broker and everything seems to have turned out well.
However, today while I was deleting old emails, I ran across an article on the web aptly titled Ripoff Report:
I thought it sounded too coincidental and really unbelievable, so I did a quick search and lo and behold, turns out Title Source (the company that screwed me over in the original post) really is FUCKING OWNED by Quicken Loans. QL doesn't even bother trying to hide that it's in the QL "family":
Frankly I don't understand how this is even legally possible given that they themselves kept talking about the "rules" of how bankers aren't allowed to interact with appraisers and vice versa, yet somehow they can use a company that they OWN for their appraisals - gee, I wonder who they are gonna try to help.
It just boils my blood, I don't even care about the money I lost to them, just the sheer audacity of it all irritates me to no end.
This p(review) is based on about 20 hours of fairly casual play over 2 beta weekends. I played the "devoted cleric" to around level 10 and then the "control mage" to around 20. All things considered, this has been one of the best beta experiences I've had in terms of playability, and as I think about it, Neverwinter is probably the most fun F2P MMO I've ever played. It also stands up pretty well against the latest crop of MMOs, taking an idea or two from a lot of different games but ultimately finding its own niche using an old favorite license (D&D).
Sometimes less is more, and I think that's why the designers have been perhaps more successful than other more ambitious projects, though of course only time will tell if they can be successful with the F2P model. The game is focused almost old fashioned-ly on adventuring in a relatively small area based on D&D lore. A lot of gamers will probably be familiar with it (I played the games but dont' remember much) so seeing it come alive in a new way will probably be a thrill for some. But Cryptic has done more than just make good use of a license, they've put their stamp on the combat and overall feel of the game. Like their superhero games, they start you off with a couple limited abilities, but you immediately feel pretty kickass. And like those games, they use a mix of instances and open areas to funnel the population around while still making the world feel more vibrant and in motion than many other MMOs. Combat is 3rd person with skills on timers (traditional MMORPG) combined with aiming and clicking, dodging and blocking (non-traditional). It's much faster paced than most other fantasy games, and particularly in "boss" battles really makes you feel like you're in the heat of a tough battle and have to make the right moves to win. It's kind of twitch-based, but not so much so that someone like me who doesn't generally fare well in FPS games will have a problem. You definitely feel much more involved in the combat, and that's a really big plus in this genre. While it's not too far from some other games (including Cryptic's own games), it's certainly the first time (for better or worse) you'll experience D&D lore with this kind of combat.
Character "building" has been dumbed down, which generally would upset me, but here it works well enough. It's a blend between traditional MMORPG systems and what we got in Diablo 3, mixed with the D&D ruleset. There are quite a few races to choose from, but I believe only 5 pre-specialized classes will be available at release, i.e. it's not a generic wizard you get to mold, but a "control wizard" that's more or less meant to be a CC character from the getgo. As you level up, you gain access to new spells/skills, but like D3, you have a limited number of active "slots" to put them in so you have to pick and choose which to have loaded up. There aren't as many choices as in D3, but other choices you make in your character will likely influence which you bring to the table. As you level further you will get attribute points (every 10 levels) and feat points (every level) to gain some degree of customization. Speaking of which, they seem to have got the levelling reward system down very nicely thus far. You get something new skill-wise every level, plus feat points. Every 5 levels a magical box gives you some nice bonus items. At 10 and 20 you get more attributes. At 16 you get a "companion" (a combat pet that really helps out, not as advanced as SWTOR but a little more sophisticated than D3) and at 20 you get a mount. They keep these breadcrumbs flowing and that keeps the game feeling very well paced. This seems to be influenced largely by the Asian MMO (Perfect World who owns Cryptic) F2P market - I think they understand that because the game is free, there's no need to hold back (time-wise) on many of the rewards. The more fun you are having, the more you are likely to stay longer, and thus the more likely you might purchase some other "extras" like skins or pets or whatever. I really like this type of model as there's no pretense that they aren't trying to get your money, but also they don't feel like they need to artificially keep you playing longer to get your monthly fees.
One of my biggest pet peeves with many of the latest MMORPGs is how focused they are on the single player storyline. To me it’s completely counter-intuitive to focus on single player content in a game that you’ve designed to be not just multiplayer, but “massively” multiplayer. I know a lot of people disagree with me on this but what I’ve seen is this sort of design naturally detracts from players grouping together, which gradually breaks the social ties in the game until a guild is nothing more than a chat channel or an empty wasteland. Neverwinter doesn’t dump the single player content; in fact it seems to have a full storyline for you to enjoy completely single player. But what it adds on top of that are specific instances that can be shared easily with strangers (or your own friends I presume) in the same way that recent games queue you up for PvP/Battlegrounds. It’s such a simple thing, but it’s a superb feature to mix into the general gameplay. At any moment I can queue up for a group instance, get ported to the location, and then get ported back to where I was after we’re done. They even give an estimate to how long it will take to complete a particular dungeon, it’s fantastic. I’m not exactly sure how it works if you are in your own party, but from what I can tell it would just auto fill in remaining spots similar to League of Legends. This is kind of a side comment, but I often wonder why LoL continues to be so successful at keeping me coming back, and I think at least partially it’s because it is so flexible in terms of allowing you to play by yourself or with any number of other players (in small group numbers). Add in that there’s no monthly fee and you have a winning system, one with solo content, and flexible grouping with friends and/or strangers. All simple ideas, but extremely powerful when implemented correctly.
The key feature that may be the “make or break” for the game is the Foundry – the system that allows players to make their own adventures/campaigns. While I haven’t seen the tools yet, I did try out 3 different player made scenarios of varying length and quality. From what I can tell, it’s a very robust system that will offer storytellers a great way to shine, and offer players a never ending amount of fresh content to explore. On paper at least this is absolutely an awesome feature. Foundry quests are woven directly into the main world locations, as well as accessible from separate menus. Some NPCs will even direct you to foundry content. As the content can be outside the main city, it seems like there are very few limitations to what you can creatively achieve if you're willing to put in the time. Either way they feel like they are direct parts of the game world (like side quests essentially) and can be every bit as immersive as the real game’s quests. While none of the 3 I played were all that exciting, given that the game is still in beta I was thoroughly impressed. One in particular was the first part of many intended parts, and did a nice job creating atmosphere and setting the stage. They used drow assassins to surprise you in combat, and both indoor and outdoor locations. It appears content is scaled to your level, as are rewards. I'm really curious to see how much control you have over the modules; presumably you won't be able to make cheesy freebie modules to boost your characters the way you could in the original Neverwinter games.
One last minor thing, someone mentioned to me the game was "unplayable" because the graphics were too bad. I'm not really sure what they were expecting but aside from the character models being kind of mediocre, I found the graphics were fine, particularly in conjunction with good spell effects. Add to that the capability to allow for user-made content and I think all around it's a very solid, very impressive engine. Couple of screenshots follow.
Quote from: Scraper on March 10, 2013, 02:27:54 PM
Quote from: hepcat on March 08, 2013, 02:33:06 AM
Quote from: corruptrelic on March 07, 2013, 10:05:02 PM
Not at all.. just that I keep an open mind when watching these shows that more than anything, they are meant to entertain audiences. Sometimes you have to go a little farther because if you base everything as it would be in real life, it'd probably make for a pretty boring and slow show.
Even in the walking dead thread people bring up how it's "not realistic" (since when is a zombie realistic?!) of course it's not, it's fiction.
Since I don't mind it being "unrealistic" since it serves as entertainment, makes watching all the more enjoyable.
I love unrealistic. However, I hate badly written.
Im in this camp too. I tried to like The Following, but everytime the writers write the bad guys into a corner, they just make shit up to get them out of it. The whole SWAT Team replacement and the girl sheriff were the final nail in the coffin for me. It's just sloppy writing.
I don't mind curves in storylines, but they at least need to make sense.
Given the almost fantasy-like premise of the show, I don't see how it didn't make "sense." If you buy into the premise that this guy is a criminal mastermind/manipulator with an entire cult of followers, and has been planning his revenge/escape meticulously for years, he should have those kinds of resources. Many moves need to have plotted out far in advance, and seeds of other plans should have been sewn in the subsequent years, ready to exploit when needed. Basically like a well-formed terrorist organization (on a TV show).
Now what doesn't make sense is why Shawn Ashmore won't take his shirt off!!
So you guys prefer this thread? Anyone else playing? I'm having a blast thus far even playing almost all solo. It's not that there's anything unique going on here, but the combat definitely feels more action packed (particularly against a boss) and the zones feel more "alive". There's a consistent feeling of being rewarded and the pacing feels good (so far). I think they have deliberately made a simpler game (relative to many recent MMOs), but have successfully focused on doing a really good job with that, rather than trying to be all things to all people.
Dungeon Plunder is definitely a lot of fun. It was going along too easily for me at first and then suddenly I wasn't paying enough attention and lost my first guy. But certainly it lasted a lot longer than a general roguelike. Coolest thing is you retain "legacy" bonuses to your next character, very cool idea so you don't feel like your earlier efforts were just lost in the wind.
I'm starting to warm up to the show more now, I'm really glad they got Joe out and about again.
Plausibility? Doesn't bother me unless the other elements of the show (acting, editing, dialog, etc) are stagnant or unappealing. As long as there are interesting actors and plotlines happening I can suspend belief. Kevin Bacon is doing a good job of turning into Jack Bauer, and Shawn Ashmore is delicious. All the bad guys are pretty cool, though I really hope they bring the ambiguously gay duo back.
Just picked this up based on your recommendation. I generally don't like twitch IOS games because I'm not fast enough on the small screen, but the action is not terribly frantic.
Any hints or tips for starting. Must have skills? How many goldmines to build? Etc.
Tough question, depends on which class you've chosen, what runes you might have, which scenario you are playing, and how good your twitch/aim skills are. Some of the classes are better at relying on units, others on mortar/ballista, others are more geared to just go out and solo everything. Having the right runes can really change up your strategy as well. +10 run on a Clockwork really changes the way you play him. If you can land +2 gold income a lot of things open up to you quickly. Personally I had a lot of luck using a +100 health +100 starting gold. The beginning gold advantage was just a huge jump.
Very generally when you first start you don't have a lot of options. Armor you want to get to 10 one way or another as once you hit 10 you can't be knocked down. Gold mines you want a minimum of 2 to get +3, but really you want +4 or +5. Fully upgraded walls asap, and generally you want to get to at least the second upgrade fairly quickly. My first run through with the game I was playing Paladin and had limited runes, so I generally relied on peons and pikemen. As the game moves on, peons become less and less useful, and pikemen eventually aren't great either. Many maps I've been relying on giants but you don't get access to those until fairly later in the campaign.
A rule of thumb that you'll need to keep in mind is that at some point (I think starting around scenario 4) you will need to venture into the back half of the map and take stuff out yourself. The sooner you get yourself mentally prepared for this the better. There are annoying archers and bomber types that will take your mines out in 1 hit and wreak havoc on your keep. Pikemen can eventually roam out that far and hunt them down but that presumes you've totally controlled the front portion of the map.
In Co-Op/Endless, the general pattern is a couple mines, walls, wall units and ballista/mortar, forge, dwarven hut... I still like giants but they don't last nearly as long as they do in the campaign. I've seen some people load up a full line of blunderbuss to protect the entrance, but you really need good wall support for this to work well.
Yet another update came out this weekend with some stability fixes and a new class, the Clockwork Defender. At first glance he seemed kind of redundant in terms of being a tanky melee dude, but as you level up it's definitely a new style of play. His core strength is in increasingly powerful buffs to himself, both in giving and receiving damage. He also has a unique passive that gives him defensive boosts and knock-over capability while running. It eventually dawned on me I should strap on a +10 run rune and just go all out. Basically as soon as the close-in portion is reasonable, I make outside runs to knock bad guys over and take out ranged attackers, it's very effective.
This game is just incredible for the amount of gameplay it offers. Every class plays differently and requires different strategies and skills to do well in, and in spite of identical maps, the co-op experience also changes drastically depending on what 2 classes/levels are playing together, what runes they have available, and how skillful each player is.
Even better, they've announced yet another major update with 3 more classes. Can't wait!
Really loving this game as well, it's got just the right amount of everything I like in an SRPG. The only frustrating thing is when one of my favorite characters (and they all start to become endearing unfortunately) gets one shotted from a silly careless move I make. I am on normal difficulty but I chose the original mode to make it more interesting. I like the idea that I might have to sacrifice some characters I love permanently, but I hate when it's due to something really cheap or from what amounts to a brain fart on my part (like moving the healer up front when I thought it was a tanky dude).
The character interactions definitely give the game a life above and beyond most games like this, and I think it is surpassing FFT as my all-time favorite in the genre.
I have to say that was my favorite episode of the season, and probably one of my favorites of the entire series. So many fantastic character moments between the "big 3" (plus some closure on a plotline from season 1), and finally I think they can stop with the BS posturing against Michonne. The hitchhiker bit was brutally honest and perfectly written. The acting and direction were all just top notch, kudos all around.
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I almost wonder if they wanted to send the message that they were truly divergent from the comic, on top of the "no one is safe" kind of message they've been advertising, I dunno.
