What are you playing at the moment?

[Vexing Vision]

I spent a very MMO-heavy weekend with trying out SWTOR again to see if it captures me this time (it failed), and playing TSW to complete even the last grey quest in Kingsmouth (TSW did not fail).

I actually really enjoyed SWTOR's multi-dialogue-system and sincerely hope they'll do a Mass Effect co-op campaign at one point. Not this silly "run around and shoot things", but a proper dialogue-heavy game with consequences. SWTOR still has the most boring character-progression system ever created by mankind though. Ouch.

Really digging TSW (apart from the combat), but I love the concept behind the character progression. Very, very nice. Oh gods and that setting...

[Althea]

On Althea's reccomendation (yup, I'm putting this all on you), I've been playing some Divinity II: DKS and...

so far it's pretty good! Not very far at all yet, but impressions are fairly good so far. If it keeps this up, I will feel like I should have paid more, which is weird.
Pretty good is pretty much as good as it gets, but the game has a fairly refreshing sense of humour. That said, it feels a little crude and unpolished at times, which also goes for the DKS version.

[NecroKnight]

Lone Survivor

[TailSwallower]

Couldn't resist - ended up getting Dungeon Keeper 2 on sale from GOG. Missed both DKs the first time around, though I always heard good things.

Having some trouble figuring out the finer points of possession, but otherwise I'm thoroughly enjoying the experience.

[Kodeen]

I'm also playing DKS, and I'm really enjoying it! It's unusual for a game like this to have a sense of humor that doesn't come across as canned. Also, I strongly prefer enemies who never respawn, so this game scratches that itch as well.

[The JG Man]

Second trip to Ocarina of Time Hyrule with my friend. We moved onto the second set of dungeons and my memory of the first one is playing up, but then I always sucked at the Forest Temple. It doesn't help that the rooms literally warp themselves.

[Museli]

This weekend I had a lot of fun with the demo of Warlock: Master of the Arcane, and a lot of what I shall dub 'funishment' from Frozen Synapse. Also, I've just finished installing Left 4 Dead 2 for the first time ever - can't wait to get started on that with my pals.

[Lambchops]

I felt like nostalgic and booted up LBA 2. I'm going to write some more on this but I feel it merits its own topic as I've got some musings on the act of playing old games with new eyes.

[NathanH]

I have just found my CD of Warlords 3: Darklords Rising.

[Hal Fenix]

Deus Ex, Half Life, and Vampire: Bloodlines.

I love VP:B. I wish it had gotten more acclaim when it was released. It's one of the best games I've ever played.

[IHaveNoIdea]

I can tell you what I'm not playing: Kingdoms of Amalur. And as soon as I am able to post a new thread, I can explain why!

[Raaritsgozilla]

Sweet jesus Bastion is purrrrty

[NathanH]

I love VP:B. I wish it had gotten more acclaim when it was released. It's one of the best games I've ever played.

It really is a top quality game. Mostly it got panned for being a bit of a mess on release, which was unfortunately true. Since this sort of thing happens so often in gaming, it might be worth review sites updating reviews for old games that were buggy but have since acquired a big following. Given that we're seeing the re-release of many older games, and not just on GOG, this would provide a useful service to the readers of review sites.

[Vexing Vision]

I have just found my CD of Warlords 3: Darklords Rising.

I've been recently tempted to start a new Warlords 3 match with a few friends. Sadly, the TCP/IP is a pain to get to work nowadays, let alone run stable. :(

Such a fantastic game.

[Nalano]

I'm not sure I understand what you mean here

Clearly.

I meant this: The post I was critiquing I viewed as, if not hypocritical, then confused. You complained about the ability for an Orc to be as good as a Breton in magic stats simply by practicing at it in-game, after espousing the power of stat-determination for character roles. Bethesda had a very clear idea when it came to character development, and while you clearly prefer class designations, your argument seems to vacillate between the two models.

I reiterate that it would appear that the issue isn't so much that said Orc can be great at magic healing hands, but that said Orc (and Breton) can eventually be good at everything - as Bethesda can't figure out challenge ratings for shit - which defeats the purpose of any stat specialization. Indeed, under such a system, even your class designations become meaningless - especially considering how easily Oblivion's leveling system was broken out of the box.

[airtekh]

I've only been playing it for a few days, but I'm already obsessed with Day Z, the zombie survival mod for Arma 2: CO.

[Casimir Effect]

Have been playing D&D: Dragonshard which, if anyone remembers, was a game released in 2005 after being delayed several times and tried to do the whole RTS~RPG thing.

It isn't very good. It's isn't very bad either. It's just average. Really average. Except the narrator who is the most boring man the world, any world, has ever seen. I could complain about the simple AI, the poor engine, uninspired story or dull RPG systems but instead I'll just say that in terms of strategy it makes C&C look like Total War (or one of those turn-based WW2 eastern front historians wet-dream games). All you can really do is select a bunch of your people, tell them to attack and then sit back and watch, maybe trying to trigger a special ability every now and then.

I'm done with it after doing a couple of missions. Too many better things to play.

EDIT: For anyone wondering, Liquid Entertainment went on to make Desperate Housewives: The Game and then Rise of the Argonauts. I think they're now making that new Neverwinter game, so don't hold your breath there.

EDIT 2: Neverwinter game being some Facebook thing so yeah, Liquid is basically dead as a company. Correction provided by guy below.

[Winged Nazgul]

I think they're now making that new Neverwinter game, so don't hold your breath there.

It's a Facebook game, why on earth would I hold my breath over that one?

http://www.heroesofneverwinter.com/

You might have it confused with the Neverwinter MMO being developed by Cryptic of CO and STO fame.

[Casimir Effect]

Thought I was missing something but at work so couldn't do a proper check. Thanks for that!

[Lukasz]

still terraria. fucking twins are just horrible. the worm one i can beat easily cause of magic harp and probes dropping magic stars and heart but twins are horrible. fought them like 7 times. yet beat them only once. i have to use magic mirror to tp to nurse out of battle arena and then heal quickly. yet that green eye can tank like noone else and it takes so much time that i start to lose concentration and i got owned before i could tp for health.

didn't fight yet skeletron so no idea how he compares.

[Tikey]

I'm still playing Mount & Blade Warband.
I've captured two castles now. I'm becoming an important lord.
It's amazing how different is the game dynamic now that I have to manage my fiefs and get into politics.

[Vexing Vision]

I am currently playing the Aquaria soundtrack at work. I remember that game fondly. Swimming in the underground ocean caves, filled with water, cool water.

Incidentally, the office temperature right now is at 50 degrees. Air condition is broken for a few weeks now.

Aquaria soundtrack is a life-saver.

[Juan Carlo]

I'm still playing Mount & Blade Warband.
I've captured two castles now. I'm becoming an important lord.
It's amazing how different is the game dynamic now that I have to manage my fiefs and get into politics.

I really like Mount and Blade but I spent like 60 hours in that game just PLANNING to become a lord. Then once I was finally ready I lost interest. lol

[Ravelle]

I really like Mount and Blade but I spent like 60 hours in that game just PLANNING to become a lord. Then once I was finally ready I lost interest. lol

I had M&BW purchased at a steam sale a while back but never played it, maybe it's time to give it a spin hearing such good things about it from you guys.

[Raaritsgozilla]

Mount and Blade is fun, especially now that they have released a new update. Also playing with the Floris modpack

[vinraith]

Are there any mods that make M&B a bit more of an RPG? It was a lot of fun, but after a little while it started to feel extremely repetitive.

[Raaritsgozilla]

It is a pretty repetitive game. Floris makes it prettier and adds more in though.

[vinraith]

It is a pretty repetitive game. Floris makes it prettier and adds more in though.

I don't really care about prettier, but what do you mean by "adds more?"

[Raaritsgozilla]

More units, more in depth fights, bigger fights, more weapons.

I am terrible at describing it. More info is here (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?500322-Floris-Mod-Pack)

[Sketch]

It's too much for one post, go here:
http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,148140.0.html?PHPSESSID=urtedcp92cjckrfa6426 dhp7h4
and check it out.

[Raaritsgozilla]

Hmmm I had posted something like that but it said my post needed to be moderated first before being posted. Interesting

[SirKicksalot]

Alan Wake's American Nightmare
So good. So cheesy. So funny.

[Lukasz]

Alan Wake's American Nightmare
So good. So cheesy. So funny.

oh?
tell more.

[Vexing Vision]

Are there any mods that make M&B a bit more of an RPG? It was a lot of fun, but after a little while it started to feel extremely repetitive.

I am quite happy with the Prophesy of Pendor Mod, despite the - to me - typoed name. It adds some lovely challenge and RPG feel.

http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/board,119.0.html

The only thing I am thoroughly missing is the misoginy of the original Warband - I love playing a female mercenary in a world where everyone goes "Women should be in the kitchen and married and breeding. Get of your horse.". It's fun.

[Giaddon]

oh?
tell more.

I can.

Did you play the original ($15 on GOG right now (http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/alan_wake))?

It's not too much like the original.

It's a little game, will probably take you ~4 hours to beat. It's focused on the action, which is much tighter and more varied this time around. There are no walk and talk segments, it's all action. The plot is mostly delivered through manuscript pages that you discover. And rather than guide you along long trails of combat like the first, you are placed in much more open environments and walk back and forth across them to complete your objectives. It still has the same goofiness of the original.

I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

[fiddlesticks]

Currently replaying Serious Sam: The First Encounter.

Metropolis is a terrible place. Kleer Skeletons can rot in Hell.

Other than that, it's pretty fun.

[Duckee]

I don't really care about prettier, but what do you mean by "adds more?"

Prophesy of Pendor is my favourite SP mod. It adds a few nice mechanics I enjoy, like Kingdom creation, Knighthood orders and so forth. Closest you can get to a true RPG within the limitations of the Warband engine I think.

[Casimir Effect]

4 hours into a Sins of a Solar Empire 2v2 skirmish and I remember how fun this game can be. It just eats hour after hour and never feels like you're waiting around - there's always something to check on be it research, scouting, fighting, building, etc. I think the end is nearing. The enemy both have pretty large fleets left and my ally is retarded (currently he's doing nothing, except being having his main fleet in a vaguely useful covering position) so I'm not entirely sure I can take them. Plus there's still a few starbases left which would be suicide to fight their fleets around. At least at the moment, for the fleet expands and currently my capital ships are trained straight to level 4 for free.

I'm actually pretty lucky though: completely forgot how wormholes work (thought they sent ships from one hole to the other, actually they send them to a certain planet) so have been open to a giant flank for a long time. I can only guess the enemy AI never researched wormhole tech so can't use their one.
Upon learning though, my smaller fleet went behind enemy lines with great success
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/6374/2012052300003.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/15/2012052300003.jpg/)

[Heliocentric]

Finally finished blueberry garden.

More games need true ecosystems.

[tjv]

Tropico 3 and Day Z mostly. Only two missions left on the main campaign of Tropico 3. Got the Absolute Power DLC already and just realized that the changes in it are already on the main game. Slightly bummed about this.

First post at the RPS forums!

[Heliocentric]

First post at the RPS forums!
Welcome, excellent selections too.

[billy_bunter]

Recently got Driver:San Francisco in a sale and thought 'meh' at first - then managed to get my ancient Saitek gamepad working and now it's more like 'Woohoo!'. I haven't played a driving game on the PC for many years and it's really excellent fun and the acting pretty amusing. Though as the review on RPS said, the speedo seems to be a bit generous, it does help if you use bumpercam.

I'm also working slowly through Tropico4 which is my first Tropico game and enjoying it hugely. Very silly but it's good to have a totally different (for me) setting for an RTS

Tactical Tuesdays have rekindled my excitement for ARMA2 and as I now have a slightly better rig than when I originally played it (and thanks to various tweaking guides) I've been getting back into it. I'm still rubbish in multiplayer though. Also DayZ scared the bejesus out of me but I will have another go at it...

[Drake Sigar]

The Walking Dead game. It's really, really good. They've basically created an interactive movie like Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy) or Heavy Rain. Not much gameplay to be had, but plenty of dialogue and player choice which looks to be carried over in subsequent episodes.

[Kodeen]

Still playing Divinity II DKS and thoroughly enjoying it. My only real complaint is that, before you can become a dragon there are some choices you have to make in terms of deciding who wins (lives) in some particular quests. The problem is that it doesn't look like there will be any consequences to those choices because after you can become a dragon, something occurs in the game world that seems like it would make all of those scenarios moot.

[Bleekill]

Playing the Binding of Isaac because I want to kill mom before the expansion comes out. I keep dying in Depths I. It's a really awesome game and I like the challenge. I knew I would love it when it came out but I didn't feel like I had the time for it with Skyrim and BF3.

[fiddlesticks]

Playing the Binding of Isaac because I want to kill mom before the expansion comes out.
If you haven't made it past the Depths yet, then you can probably hold off on buying the expansion for the next few months. There's still a lot of content left in the base game for you.

[Bleekill]

You mean killing Mom over and over to get the different endings? Ill probably still get it on day 1 because it'll motivate me to beat the vanilla stuff.

[Althea]

So, Saints Row the Third.

It's... both better and worse than I expected. I think the developers need to learn a lot more about the female figure and female clothing, but... it's not too bad otherwise. At least it hasn't suffered from an Arkham City in that the 'thugs' all run around shouting "bitch" at you.

Pros:
- Ability to make your own character.
- Cars handle unrealistically but it's very easy to get used to. Not perfect, though.
- Game has the ability to make you cry with laughter.
- Pistols feel like a capable weapon (albeit too capable)
- Good variety of missions and activities
- Helicopter that doesn't need a controller to be piloted!
- World is a fair size. Smaller than GTA IV, Just Cause 2 et al, yet doesn't feel too small.
- Faith No More's "Epic" as a radio song
- Main character is pretty awesome

Cons:
- Clothing quality is very, very inconsistent, and there's only one of each 'fringe' shop (at least where I am) but a billion Planet Saints
- Character creation is too slider-based, meaning getting good looks is hard unless you put a LOT of time into it, and even then you'll think you did a crap job as soon as the first cutscenes happen.
- Combat seems a bit too DA2-esque in that there's ridiculous waves of enemies more often than not.
- It feels like it's lacking a layer of polish expected for an AAA release.
- Lots of clipping issues. Long coats hang out from under cars, pedestrians/objects can get stuck 'in' cars.
- Graphic quality is made worse by additional effects; little control over the 'advanced' graphics settings
- Unless I'm missing cutscenes, it feels as though a fair bit of the 'story' isn't being explained - it just happens.

[Kodeen]

You mean killing Mom over and over to get the different endings? Ill probably still get it on day 1 because it'll motivate me to beat the vanilla stuff.

There are even more levels after Mom.

[Ravelle]

So, Saints Row the Third.

It's... both better and worse than I expected. I think the developers need to learn a lot more about the female figure and female clothing, but... it's not too bad otherwise.

Can't be worse than Capcom's view on female thighs and hands. Treetrunks and gorillahands, man.

[Casimir Effect]

Can't be worse than Capcom's view on female thighs and hands. Treetrunks and gorillahands, man.
And yet the number of guys who seem to get off on those character...
The internet is a disturbing place.

[The JG Man]

Just started playing Bulletstorm, although in the hour and a half since I decided to start playing it, I feel I've spent longer editing some of its files so it doesn't run badly. Firing a gun for longer than a second seemed to halve the frame rate. It's all on full, but my PC should be able to run it with no problem. I also found out how to disable the intro videos, what with them being incredibly loud and annoying.

Anyhow, the game itself. Obviously, just started, but it looks nice, plays well, but seems incredibly linear. I also just ran into a glitch, which isn't terribly fun. Still, I wanted to get this out of the way from my backlog and I'm having fun, so that's what matters. As it goes, the GFWL integration isn't too bad, if you have no intention of taking it online, which I don't.

[Ravelle]

Just started playing Bulletstorm, although in the hour and a half since I decided to start playing it, I feel I've spent longer editing some of its files so it doesn't run badly. Firing a gun for longer than a second seemed to halve the frame rate. It's all on full, but my PC should be able to run it with no problem. I also found out how to disable the intro videos, what with them being incredibly loud and annoying.

Anyhow, the game itself. Obviously, just started, but it looks nice, plays well, but seems incredibly linear. I also just ran into a glitch, which isn't terribly fun. Still, I wanted to get this out of the way from my backlog and I'm having fun, so that's what matters. As it goes, the GFWL integration isn't too bad, if you have no intention of taking it online, which I don't.

That's the thing about bad ports, they tend to run crappy despite your computer's hardware.

And the game is quite fun with a buddy but I guess the frame rates and technical issues would spoil that on the PC.

[SirKicksalot]

I finished Diablo 3 on Normal with a Barbarian.
Worst story ever. At least other bad stories are inoffensive but this is a tragedy. It takes itself so seriously and it's delivered so badly - it manages to ruin a brilliant game. I am very disappointed. Blizzard needs to add options to make the game STFU and stop dumping exposition and dialogue, otherwise I can't see myself playing it too much. As much as I like the gameplay, everything related to the story, dialogues and lore is driving me mad.
Fuck Metzen.

[Nalano]

So, Saints Row the Third.

They didn't even attempt to make car handling realistic. You can can accelerate and sit on the handbrake at the same time, sliding across the road like it was the icecapades. :P

Also, you can re-work your image - sliders and all - from any Image As Design shop, which acts as an on-the-fly character generator. Consequently,

http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/540676336800087592/101A35EDE14744478E3F48C923D78C3FB0EB8C96/

Me in a decidedly unladylike fashion
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/540676336800142783/66195CB4B192F5089BA90E4DA7E33C87902B0E13/

[Lukasz]

Can't be worse than Capcom's view on female thighs and hands. Treetrunks and gorillahands, man.
Treetrunks thighs do make sense tough. In fighting games. Having skinny fighters beating the crap out of 2 meter walking man muscles is just idotic.

[Althea]

Also, you can re-work your image - sliders and all - from any Image As Design shop, which acts as an on-the-fly character generator. Consequently,

Indeed you can, but it doesn't stop it being annoying. It's hard to get a 'truly' good looking character.

[Althea]

Treetrunks thighs do make sense tough. In fighting games. Having skinny fighters beating the crap out of 2 meter walking man muscles is just idotic.
http://i.imgur.com/mSfX1.gif

You were saying?

[Lukasz]

http://i.imgur.com/mSfX1.gif

You were saying?
you do realize that it is staged?

[Nalano]

You were saying?

Most martial arts are just form of choreographed acrobatics, like all your WWE pro wrestling moves in Saints Row 3.

[jnx]

you do realize that it is staged?

Might be, but many throws in martial arts work like that. If you're the receiving end, you need to go with it or things will break. So playing along you essentially avoid the critical hit and take lesser damage.

[MD!]

It's hard to get a 'truly' good looking character.

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/5153/sr31.png

<Australian Male Voice> You take that back!

[Juan Carlo]

Finally finished Jamestown (after getting it in the HIB eons ago). Short game, but just the right length, I think. I spent 4 hours total on it according to steam, but at least 2.5 of those hours must have been spent just trying to beat the final level. Good game, though.

Also playing "Avernum 4." I like it over all, but it's probably the weakest of all the spiderweb games I've ever played (especially when it comes to plotting, which is really taking its sweat time to do anything interesting).

[Juan Carlo]

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/5153/sr31.png

<Australian Male Voice> You take that back!


Actually, Saints Row's character generator helped me to discover that deep down I am actually a strong black woman who rocks her afro puffs proudly whilst defiantly holding her fist up high to the facists.

Who knew?

[kataras]

Most martial arts are just form of choreographed acrobatics, like all your WWE pro wrestling moves in Saints Row 3.

Seems like you ve never been on the receiving end! Most of them have nothing to do with choreography unless you are doing a show or something.

[sabrage]

Finally finished Jamestown (after getting it in the HIB eons ago). Short game, but just the right length, I think. I spent 4 hours total on it according to steam, but at least 2.5 of those hours must have been spent just trying to beat the final level. Good game, though.
I thought Jamestown was a very good length. I beat it in about 4 hours too (with some of that time spent on the challenges) and I think I could go back and do a good run in about an hour now. It helped that the last level ate up all the patience I had left for the game; those moving environmental pieces really pissed me off. Comparatively, I wouldn't want to go back and play Tyrian 2000 for score, but I'll definitely play Jamestown again at some point in the future.

[Giaddon]

One of my housemates just bought an Xbox 360, so the first thing I did was rush to the store and buy Red Dead Redemption, pretty much the only console exclusive I've been sad about missing. I managed to put in a few hours yesterday and it is indeed excellent.

On the PC, I am unexpectedly enjoying Assassin's Creed: Revelations. I picked it up in the recent Steam sale, kept away for a while by AC fatigue, but I think I chose the right moment to jump back on because I'm having a blast. So far there have been no, uh, assassinations, but the game as a whole does seem to emphasize stealth slightly more than the previous versions, which I like. Constantinople is an awesome and beautiful city, the music is excellent, and the hookblade is a fun addition to the free-running. Rock on AC3!

I also purchased Defender's Quest from the Because We May sale. I've only played a handful of maps, but I've liked it so far. Well worth the $3 if anyone's curious. Plus, there's a demo!

[Smashbox]

I loved Red Dead, but I also experienced the signature "Rockstar-slump" that I have in every game since Vice City. Their mission structure and game length needs work, I think. It's easy to eventually lose interest and it can feel tedious. I usually come back about a year later to finish.

[Casimir Effect]

A lot of it is telling yourself you don't need to do every single sidequest/activity in those games. Do what you want then get out. In GTA4 I quickly stopped giving a crap with regards to all friend/dating missions and just played the main quest, shooting the occasional pidgeon. No idea if this is possible in Red Dead but I'd be surprised if you couldn't just play the main game.

[khaz]

Unlike the GTA3 series or GTA4, Red Dead's world feels a lot more alive so you feel more compelled to explore it. You can just get on a horse, find an area with nice scenery and let the soundtrack play. Just trotting around on your horse gives the world a vibrancy the GTA games lack.

[Giaddon]

khaz: I agree. I've never been a fan of the GTA games, but the Western setting is incredibly well-realized here. Just riding your horse around and watching the sunset is a pretty amazing experience. The soundtrack is fantastic, as well.

[Althea]

Might be, but many throws in martial arts work like that. If you're the receiving end, you need to go with it or things will break. So playing along you essentially avoid the critical hit and take lesser damage.
It's all about balance/counter-balance, isn't it? A smaller woman can *easily* take down a larger guy if she gets him in the right position.

[Doodier]

It's all about balance/counter-balance, isn't it? A smaller woman can *easily* take down a larger guy if she gets him in the right position.
Depends on the martial art - that move in your gif is near to impossible to execute in real life conditions but ordinary nuts-kick is highly effective no matter how big your opponent is..

[Smashbox]

Unless he's a giant eunuch. Then you're fucked.

[Althea]

Or if he's wearing a cup.

[Serenegoose]

Besides being a move that requires a fair amount of fortune to actually work, the sort of attack depicted in the gif is a huge liability in actual real world scenarios - like any scenario where you're fighting more than one person - congratulations, you have just positioned yourself on the floor with some dude on top of one of your legs. Prepare for a kicking. Regardless of the fact that there are things a smaller person can do to help even the odds, the larger person has the advantage of being larger, which never stops being an advantage.

[Casimir Effect]

The neck and the groin (http://youtu.be/EkCxHoeaHgo?t=5m25s)...

[Doodier]

Or if he's wearing a cup.
Don't know any people wearing a cup to restaurant/bar/cinema/whatevs.. Except for actual training/organized fight it is rather uncomfortable to wear every day and I thought we are talking real-life scenarios now..

[Sidian]

Seems like you ve never been on the receiving end! Most of them have nothing to do with choreography unless you are doing a show or something.

I'd agree with him, actually. The vast majority of martial arts are designed to be good at fighting other people who use that martial art - the focus is on scoring points and being viable in competitions within a strict set of rules and what have you; very few styles focus on practical situations and self defence. People who practice 'flashy' martial arts and score well in their spars don't like to hear this, though. Take Krav Maga for instance, it's usually banned in competitive settings because it does not care for such things, it is all about self defence whether that be using nearby household items, eye gouging, groin kicking, whatever. It doesn't try to look flashy or do overly complex moves that only work in a large room when the person knows it's coming and you're standing on a mat, it focuses on self defence.

That's not to say there aren't martial arts that are good for self defence in addition to sport, such as muay thai, but yeah. I'm sort of getting the feeling this may be slightly off topic though...

I'm playing Day Z and trying to play Diablo 3, but since I've started a little late, finding someone to play it with who isn't already far ahead has been a lot more difficult than I anticipated.

[sabrage]

I'm playing Day Z and trying to play Diablo 3, but since I've started a little late, finding someone to play it with who isn't already far ahead has been a lot more difficult than I anticipated.
I have a 10 and a 14 and my friends are all level 35+. I hate playing the game by myself. Feel free to add, though bear in mind that I'm in the States:
Sabrage#1941

[Nalano]

I'd agree with him, actually. The vast majority of martial arts are designed to be good at fighting other people who use that martial art - the focus is on scoring points and being viable in competitions within a strict set of rules and what have you; very few styles focus on practical situations and self defence. People who practice 'flashy' martial arts and score well in their spars don't like to hear this, though. Take Krav Maga for instance, it's usually banned in competitive settings because it does not care for such things, it is all about self defence whether that be using nearby household items, eye gouging, groin kicking, whatever. It doesn't try to look flashy or do overly complex moves that only work in a large room when the person knows it's coming and you're standing on a mat, it focuses on self defence.

Thank you for taking the time to explicate what I was implying.

[Tritagonist]

I've been playing the Civilization 5 in the free weekend over on Steam. It's been a while since I've had a game make time fly by. I'm currently playing as Russia on what I think is the third of say six or seven difficulties, and now that I've been able to make some Cannons I'm blasting my way across the continent without any real opposition. The America of General Washington is getting rather large over on the other of two continents, having just wiped out the Iroquois and Ghandi's Indians. He now wants me to help attack England, the other main force on that continent. I expect this to become a major conflict which will be much more difficult to manage than what I've been up against so far.

It's like Troy Goodfellow wrote over on Flash of Steel (http://flashofsteel.com/index.php/2011/05/26/turning-points/): 'No action game has ever made me want to be a writer. Some strategy games have.'

[Althea]

I just found out Female Voice 1 in Saints Row the Third is done by the lady who voiced E'lara in Hunted: The Demon's Forge.

Saints Row the Third will be played more very shortly :D It says I'm 24% through it already, though. Oh.

[coldvvvave]

SWKOTOR 2: Sith Lords

Is it me or it doesn't feel very starwarsy? Not that I'm complaining. The typical music is so out of place though. First level is something between Star Trek and System Shock( not as good, though). Second is like Mass Effect if it was made in 2001, they even have a Citadel station. I somehow managed to uninstall the game and lost all saves right after leaving the first boring hub. So I had to download someone else saves. And really, I don't care, nothing has changed for me even if my protagonists name/class/face is different now. RPG mechanics are tedious in this game. I just don't want to spend my time leveling characters in my party, I'm not even their "leader", why am I supposed to tell them? Go auto level up you idiots, don't ask me. I play it because story is more or less interesting even though the gameplay and everything else isn't shockingly good.

[Similar]

Back to playing Minecraft after not having played anything at all for several months. It's not as pleasant as it should be due to constant freezes when opening things or using chat (weirdly, the game can often be unfrozen by alt-tabbing and starting or closing Thunderbird or some other program. No idea what that's about), but I persist. for now.

Not sure I can play much else right now anyway, not 3D, at least; I managed to finally find a modded graphics driver that let me install it on my Toshiba laptop (the official drivers straight from AMD are all blocked from installing and the most recent Toshiba has released is from 2009), but that particular driver just happens to have a bug that just happens to affect my particular graphics card, so Skyrim is looking all wonky. I hear it affects other games too.

[Lukasz]

break from Terraria. Playing avadon. seems quite aright. primitive controls and UI but it does the job. nothing awesome yet hopefully it will get better.

[Arona Daal]

Although i have aquired half a dozen new Games i have not even touched yet, I usually play Project Reality (on Mumble Servers),Portal 2 Coop,or CoH with my 2 closer Gaming-Buddies.

or, even more in the last few Weeks , Space Station 13 which somehow reminds me of Dwarf Fortress.

Its not really the same Type of Game,but its also based on a horrible Engine ,has a steep learning Curve , and once you get it is amazingly innovative and complex.

After playing SS 13 on the Gibbed Servers i have realized that SS13 is ,in a Sense, the first real *Roleplaying* Game i have encountered.They give you an Function,a Role on this Space Station ,and then encourage you to fill it out any way you prefer.
The Possibilities of interaction with the other Players,and the Environment are quite numerous allowing you to do Things like:

Sending an electronic Virus to detonate the PDA of another Player.
Making a Burger out of his Corpse and placing it at the Bar.
Fake an Emergency Call using the stolen ID of the Dead Guy accusing the Kitchen Chef of Assault.
Hack into the Backdoor of the Security Room while the Security is searching for the Kitchen Chef.
Steal a Security Uniform and incorporate an SEC Officer,and lure your second Assassination Target into a secluded Place "for questioning",stun him, and toss him out of an Airlock.
If you are sadistic (or need more Distraction for SEC),inside a locked Locker with limited Oxygen and only his Radio Headset.
So the whole Station can hear him curse and call for help,while he flies into deep Space.

Its just lovely.

[Ravelle]

SWKOTOR 2: Sith Lords

Is it me or it doesn't feel very starwarsy? Not that I'm complaining. The typical music is so out of place though. First level is something between Star Trek and System Shock( not as good, though). Second is like Mass Effect if it was made in 2001, they even have a Citadel station. I somehow managed to uninstall the game and lost all saves right after leaving the first boring hub. So I had to download someone else saves. And really, I don't care, nothing has changed for me even if my protagonists name/class/face is different now. RPG mechanics are tedious in this game. I just don't want to spend my time leveling characters in my party, I'm not even their "leader", why am I supposed to tell them? Go auto level up you idiots, don't ask me. I play it because story is more or less interesting even though the gameplay and everything else isn't shockingly good.

Mass Effect had a lot of sneaky references to KOTOR as well, like Nihilus from Mass effect and Darth Nihilus sharing the same name and similar markings.

[The JG Man]

Also, Carth Onasi is exactly the same as Kaiden Alenko. Exactly the same.

[Nalano]

Also, Carth Onasi is exactly the same as Kaiden Alenko. Exactly the same.

Soft-spoken, slightly dweebish, spineless goodie-two-shoes that's somehow meant to be every female protagonist's primary love interest?

If anything, I'd imagine that to be the real misogyny. :P

[Drake Sigar]

They're twins. I imagine some girls would be into that.

[Casimir Effect]

Kaiden is a copy of Carth except for the stuff that made Carth a decent character. Three times I've played ME1 and Kaiden hasn't survived any of them. Not that Ashley is a far better character. I wish there was an option to leave them both behind.

[Nalano]

Kaiden is a copy of Carth except for the stuff that made Carth a decent character. Three times I've played ME1 and Kaiden hasn't survived any of them. Not that Ashley is a far better character. I wish there was an option to leave them both behind.

I've never done a playthrough with Ashley still alive. I suspect she'd be something like a female James Vega, and one "HAY GUSY, WUTS A CONSOLE" Vega is one too many.

[Casimir Effect]

I've never done a playthrough with Ashley still alive. I suspect she'd be something like a female James Vega, and one "HAY GUSY, WUTS A CONSOLE" Vega is one too many.
After that she kind of just gibbers about her family some more, gets less racist, says you should have left her to die back there, and possibly get freaky with Commander S. Like I said, letting both die would be preferable.

[khaz]

A shitton of HoN over the last few days. Oooh my clicking finger.

[vinraith]

Kaiden is a copy of Carth except for the stuff that made Carth a decent character. Three times I've played ME1 and Kaiden hasn't survived any of them. Not that Ashley is a far better character. I wish there was an option to leave them both behind.

Kaiden and Ashley are both somewhat annoying, but the difference is that Ashley is actually a useful character, in the combat sense. I've never had Kaiden survive a playthrough either.

To the thread topic: Dead Island, which is a blast in co-op, and A Valley Without Wind, which continues to evolve and fascinate.

I also just picked up Conquest of Elysium 3, finally. I've no idea what I'm doing yet, but it looks outstanding.

I also dabbled a little with the Civ 5 free trial on Steam, but as anticipated it didn't hold my interest. I'm simply fated to always pass on (or outright miss, in the case of the first) odd-numbered Civ games.

[Tritagonist]

Just lost a game of Civilization 5. Lost, in that I needed only one (!) more turn, if I understood the requirements correctly, to complete my Space Rocket for the 'Science Victory'.

The game decided that history ends in 2050 (Turn 500).

I'd been making all the parts in Moscow, unaware as I was of the limitation on the game length. As seen in this screenshot, Turn 492 requires 3 more turns for the second of three boosters. 492+3+ 5 (for the final booster) = 500.

http://i.imgur.com/IIQLK.jpg

What a bummer - though it is oddly apt that Russia's centralized approach had this unfortunate result.

[khaz]

Hah, that's some tough luck Tritagonist.

[RobC]

Played a bunch of Warlock: Master of the Arcane. Moved on to Ticket To Ride on the PC

[SirKicksalot]

Finished Alan Wake's American Nightmare in a bit under 5 hours.
What an excellent game! All the strengths of the original, none of its weaknesses. Alan feels much better to control. Mr. Scratch is a memorable villain. For that price it's a steal.

[sabrage]

Since the Demon's Souls server shutdown got pushed back, I'm taking a well-needed break.

Diablo 3 is kind of fun but ultimately empty. I'll play if my friends are on similarly-leveled characters but they've already pushed through to 60 on several and i'm still sitting in the mid-teens. Don't care about the story anymore, so playing through by myself is mind-numbing and awful. I might switch to Torchlight.

I've been spending the bulk of my time on The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons. I usually end up getting bored and never finishing Zelda games, but this and its counterpartOracle of Ages were the first ones I played as a kid and I've always had a soft spot for them. Surprisingly still pretty hard, but nothing too taxing. I'll have to pick up the other one when I'm done with this.

[Nalano]

Still playing Saints Row: The Third.

I just robbed fifteen stores in a row.

Now, that may sound like a feat, but I own all the stores. So, effectively, I waved a shotgun around and collected paychecks.

It's all about the style.

[Serenegoose]

Crusader King 2 demo.

I have a headache.

[wasagapialireo]

im playing LOL it's pretty cool, if you love dota you love this one too

[Spider Jerusalem]

really enjoying the new ro2.

[NecroKnight]

Alan Wake's American Nightmare. The game is really short, but it's more action packed than the original.

[Drake Sigar]

Gave the Project Zomboid demo a go, I accidently smothered my wife with a pillow and set the kitchen on fire. Great game.

[Althea]

Gave the Project Zomboid demo a go, I accidently smothered my wife with a pillow and set the kitchen on fire. Great game.
Yeah, but what did you do in the game?

[Drake Sigar]

Well the demo ain't very long. Basically I had to look after my injured wife (that went well) searching neighbouring houses to scavenge food, medical supplies, and material to barricade the entrances.

[Althea]

It was a joke.

[Drake Sigar]

Oh. OH! I see. A mild variation of the 'and in the game?' gag. Very amusing.

[NathanH]

I am currently playing hardcore Oblivion, modded so that my attributes are (sum of three skills for that attribute)/2. I don't have blunt or blade as major skills, nor anything of the intelligence skills. Thus, my strength is 17, my intelligence is 7, and I have 15 mana. Things I cannot do:

- beat anything more powerful than a goblin in melee combat
- cast any spell I can find
- make potions with a non-trivial effect

My best hope is probably to collect potion ingredients and level alchemy to the point where I actually have some mana and can cast a healing spell.

[khaz]

Why would you play it in such a masochistic way? Admittedly I have a few games where I like the conditions to be somewhat restrictive but your way sounds absurd.

[NathanH]

It's normally quite exciting to play like this, you have to think pretty carefully about where you go because one wrong step can be the end. It's interesting to have to have an approach to dungeons that is more about carefully inching forwards, progressing as far as is safe enough, and then getting out before the nastier denizens catch you. Also there is nothing quite as fun as when you are running away from a creature and a large horde of other creatures ends up chasing you until you find some guards to help you.

It's also great when you finally hit the power to be able to defeat your foes quite confidently. Suddenly you are not running so much and are dealing death to those that formerly terrified you.

Admittedly this particular build might be unplayable. I usually play as a Breton so I can always cast spells from the start. Dumb Nord might be a bit too weak for this.

Now, need to find something to mix my 56 Fly Amanita Caps with...

[SirKicksalot]

Divinity 2 TDKS is a very nice game. Its cheerful atmosphere is just what I needed after Diablo 3 took itself so seriously. The combat is sort of MMOish but it's pleasant enough. I like my summoned ghost and necromancy shows great promise...

[Tikey]

Saints Row the Third in coop. Whole lotta laughter. Mostly because of botched physics and erratic ai behavior.

[Tritagonist]

Civilization V has been eating up quite a few hours this weekend. I'm still playing at a difficulty where I don't see a whole lot of difference between all the different research and building options, so that part isn't quite as interesting - but the turn-based warfare gameplay is highly addictive.

[SanguineAngel]

Oh. OH! I see. A mild variation of the 'and in the game?' gag. Very amusing.
I imagine this with a sheldon snigger.

I am currently playing crusader kings 2 and Civ 5 when I inevitably can't log in to any DayZ servers. When I can log in it's one the best gaming experiences in years

[NathanH]

I can cast a basic healing spell now!

[Casimir Effect]

I can cast a basic healing spell now!
Oblivion gates must be a nightmare, or do you leave them well along for as long as possible (the "Screw the story" playthrough method)?

[NathanH]

I avoid Oblivion gates for some time. Actually a big problem I tend to have in Oblivion gates with this playstyle is that the combination of mods I have make armour and shields degrade really fast, and usually my strength isn't high enough to carry enough repair hammers. Also since I haven't played the game for over a year I expect to have forgotten the trick of killing clannfears without being hurt.

I just got killed by a badass OOO imp. Bummer. I think I'll switch the rules to semi-hardcore (dying isn't game over, but I lose all my gear) since this character is more underpowered than I'm used to.

[Jams O'Donnell]

The bad news: Video card is dead.
The good news: Thief has a good software renderer.

I think I'll make it through this tragedy just fine.

[DeathPig]

The bad news: Video card is dead.
The good news: Thief has a good software renderer.

I think I'll make it through this tragedy just fine.

Planned on the next one?

I'm thinking of a new one too. Mine is on the verge of an irreparable collapse. And I want the new one to be around to see it.

P.S. : If I pair the new one and this one, and use this only for PhysX, will it's lifetime lengthen? And if it does collapse, will it affect the aforementioned paired card?

[roryok]

The bad news: Video card is dead.
The good news: Thief has a good software renderer.

I think I'll make it through this tragedy just fine.

I'm also playing thief at the moment. Hardware on my games machine, software on the laptop and it's handling fine. Using Dropbox to sync my save games!

[Solar]

Anxiously awaiting for The Binding of Isaac: Wrath of the Lamb! Just one more hour!

[Ravelle]

Splinter Cell: Conviction.

Apperently the game won't admit my system is a powerhouse and gives me an popup message the game won't support my videocard ( Nvidia GTX 570 ) I can play the game fine but it won't let me play on 1920x180 since the resolution isn't in the options. only at 720.

[Nalano]

For a change from Saints Row 3, I'm playing Saints Row 2.

I just spent half an hour ferrying prostitutes from one pimp to another. They complained about being torn away from their previous pimp, they complained about how I didn't kill said pimp, they complained how I killed a whole bunch of other people, they openly worried about the humanity of their forthcoming pimp, and they complained about my driving skills.

I barely heard all their bitching because I was blasting old-school gangsta rap (back when Snoop Dogg was hard) and gunning the engine.

[Heliocentric]

I finished And Yet It Lives, i thoiught it was out of ideas, and outstaying its welcome, but it ended just as I started to get concerned.

I went straight into Hydrophobia: Prophecies, its really rather good! Its a bizzare mix of Mirrors edge (hello red pipes), Bullet storm (Guard fell to his death? Gave some bonus points) and some of the best water physics I've ever seen.

The key to killing the guards is to drown/burn/electrocute/drop them rather than relying on shooting damage. I'm a little annoyed how your cross hair can be a clear line at something your character cant shoot past, and you cant stop that with a first person shooting mode, but once you learn to ignore the cross hair things get much better.

Personal favourite? Annoying guards by opening doors with the camera hack so they are drawn together and then killing them,with explosive barrels.

[fiddlesticks]

I've started yet another playthrough of Alpha Protocol (must be the fourth or fifth so far) with a simple goal in mind: kill every plot-important NPC that can be killed. To this end I've created jerkass veteran Thorton. He only dual-wields smgs, he wears the most ridiculous sunglasses imaginable, he never equips any armour because he feels it clashes with his style and he acts incredibly smug towards anyone he meets. I'm off to a great start, as I've already managed to antagonize everybody in the Graybox.

Also started playing Serious Sam: the Second Encounter. So far, it's a lot more fun than the first one.

[The JG Man]

Started playing the new Binding of Isaac expansion. It's pretty damn fun, but then it's built on a base game that already was, so I'm not entirely sure if it's warranted to that merit.

It is though. Very fun. More vulgar, more interesting, more choices than before.

[Tritagonist]

I went straight into Hydrophobia: Prophecies, its really rather good! Its a bizzare mix of Mirrors edge (hello red pipes), Bullet storm (Guard fell to his death? Gave some bonus points) and some of the best water physics I've ever seen.
Have you beaten the final boss yet? I found that to be a highly frustrating experience.

The rest of the game was interesting though, nice setting and indeed, great use of water.

[Battle Programmer Spike]

For a change from Saints Row 3, I'm playing Saints Row 2.

I just spent half an hour ferrying prostitutes from one pimp to another. They complained about being torn away from their previous pimp, they complained about how I didn't kill said pimp, they complained how I killed a whole bunch of other people, they openly worried about the humanity of their forthcoming pimp, and they complained about my driving skills.

I barely heard all their bitching because I was blasting old-school gangsta rap (back when Snoop Dogg was hard) and gunning the engine.

How laggy is it with the powertools mod for your rig? I remember having the Vista/7 speed bug on mine. And the game stuttering quite a bit. It was playable and I finished it but still, kinda curious to see if it has improved.

[Nalano]

How laggy is it with the powertools mod for your rig? I remember having the Vista/7 speed bug on mine. And the game stuttering quite a bit. It was playable and I finished it but still, kinda curious to see if it has improved.

Powertools' beta app fixes the speed bug without tuning. Gentlemen of the Row add stability patches et al. It's still badly ported, so either I disable Dynamic Lighting or cut draw distance. My eyes demand dynamic lighting, so draw distance suffers.

[Rauten]

I've started the tutorial match of Sword of the Stars complete. 1v1 against a normal CPU. First reaction was, as I expected "whathehellamisupposedtodowhatisthiswhatisthatAAAAH HHH", but after a while I started to get the hang of some of it; I think. Decided to go with the Liir, and have started establishing 2 colonies, both in the process of terraformation. I've also researched enough to unlock Cruiser class ships, and have built a small defense fleet, along with some stationary defense stations. But the CPU is, surprise surprise, beating me in every single aspect. I think they have found my home planet, so I expect my demise to be swift in the turns to come, once the CPU manages to place his fleet around my planet.

However, I'm finding that the game, while certainly feels like an entertaining and not terribly deep space TBS game, is reviving my interest for playing Star Ruler; so far it's making me feel like Star Ruler is an RTS version of Swots with ship customization cranked up to infinity.

Quick question: Any specific ways to speed up colonization/terraformation? I've noticed that by sending more and more colony ships it does increase it's rhythm a bit, but knowing of a more expeditive method, if it exists, would certainly help.

[Tikey]

You never start colonising with less than 8 colony ships. You could focus on infrastructure which should make the income (and thus resources for terraforming) come faster. Research the corresponding techs. With liir you can get nice biome colonizators that can boost terraforming by a great deal.
Don't colonize planets with more than 300 hazard rating and don't strain yourself colonizing more than you can chew.

[Rauten]

You never start colonising with less than 8 colony ships. Don't colonize planets with more than 300 hazard rating and don't strain yourself colonizing more than you can chew.

He.. hehe... hiahiahuaheahoahieahuaheuhahaheuahuahiahoahauheoHA ... Crud. I started colonizing with one measly ship, and both planets were over 300 (380 and 320 respectively, I believe). Will try to salvage what I can of the game tonight, but I expect nothing other than a crushing defeat.

[Tikey]

You can keep sending colony ships after colonizing, so that's not a problem.

[Heliocentric]

The 'hazards cost' of of the planet is paid every turn, reduced only by reducing the hazard, if your colony fleet costs less upkeep than the planet than you'll probably have to wait a while before your break even on the planet, maybe never as money spent is compound interest lost.

Note : a destroyer cost 500 space bucks a turn, a cruiser 3000

[mrpier]

Just finished Serious Sam III, and then I felt the need for some racing, so I got Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, which is fun, but I want more racing and less pursuit so I'm reinstalling GRID.

[CuriousOrange]

Red Orchestra 2! The servers are full, people are loving it. The new update is fantastic. I hope RPS cover it again since the update.

[Giaddon]

Nothing since I have been on vacation for the long weekend, but what I am most looking forward to playing when I get home from work is

Red Orchestra 2 - I'm one of the new players who checked out the free weekend, and bought the game after a few hours of play. Atmospheric and intense, with fantastic gunplay and great pacing. Countdown mode is a great, razor-sharp game mode.

Assassin's Creed Revelations multiplayer - I never tried the multiplayer for Brotherhood, and now I know that is the worst mistake I have made in my entire life. Simultaneously fast, deliberate, stealthy, frantic, thoughtful, twitchy, and just a huge amount of fun. Love it.

[Battle Programmer Spike]

Assassin's Creed Revelations multiplayer - I never tried the multiplayer for Brotherhood, and now I know that is the worst mistake I have made in my entire life. Simultaneously fast, deliberate, stealthy, frantic, thoughtful, twitchy, and just a huge amount of fun. Love it.

Yes sir! And Wanted is the best mode.

@Nalano, thanks for the answer. I played it with the powertools thing back then. Since I think I'll replay it sometime soon, I'll give it a go with the stability patches from that other mod as well.

[Giaddon]

I waffle on modes. Wanted is definitely great, but I really like deathmatch for throwing out the compass and not generating NPC models of the player's personas. Simple deathmatch is great when the smoke bomb spam becomes too much. Corruption is super super fun, as is Manhunt. It's just a great experience.

[Ravelle]

Just finished Serious Sam III, and then I felt the need for some racing, so I got Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, which is fun, but I want more racing and less pursuit so I'm reinstalling GRID.

GRID is like driving on an Icerink and your car is made out of glass, loosing your wheels and spinning donuts is so frustrating.

[mrpier]

ravelle or others - Do you have a suggestion for another racing game, nothing too simmey or too arcadey? Something where it's not a game mechanic to drift through a corner or crash your own or others cars. I did consider getting Shift 2 but what I've read about it suggest it has a very twitchy driving model? Doesn't have to be too recent either, although last time I really got into a driving game was NFS: Most Wanted, so more recent than that.

[Althea]

ravelle or others - Do you have a suggestion for another racing game, nothing too simmey or too arcadey? Something where it's not a game mechanic to drift through a corner or crash your own or others cars. I did consider getting Shift 2 but what I've read about it suggest it has a very twitchy driving model? Doesn't have to be too recent either, although last time I really got into a driving game was NFS: Most Wanted, so more recent than that.
Test Drive 2 Unlimited, maybe, but you just missed a sale on it.

[Ravelle]

ravelle or others - Do you have a suggestion for another racing game, nothing too simmey or too arcadey? Something where it's not a game mechanic to drift through a corner or crash your own or others cars. I did consider getting Shift 2 but what I've read about it suggest it has a very twitchy driving model? Doesn't have to be too recent either, although last time I really got into a driving game was NFS: Most Wanted, so more recent than that.

Both Most Wanted and Shift 1 and 2 are excellent racers, Dirt 3 is pretty good too or the latest Ridge Racer but they're pretty much arcade-a-palooza. If you want simulation you can try Gran Turismo 5 but I find it to be boring, in the sense the car's motor is one monotone, cars can't be damaged and the colliding sound sounds awful and it's like riding a monorail, there's nothing really exciting about it.

[Tritagonist]

ravelle or others - Do you have a suggestion for another racing game, nothing too simmey or too arcadey?
The Codemaster F1 games (2010 and 2011) have their fair share of problems, and I can't wholeheartedly recommend them (I only played F1 2010), but they're 'serious racing' games with a rather simplified driving model - so that might be a mix you're interested in. It is only one type of car on 19/20 tracks, though - so it's not exactly great on the diversity front.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJZV8NmNUnE

There sadly aren't any Forza Motorsports (Xbox) or Gran Turismo (Playstation) games released in recent years for PC - that I am aware of, at least.

The racing game I've been having most fun with the past six or so months is definitely TrackMania 2: Canyon (http://www.trackmania.com/). It's time trial only, as there is no contact between the different cars online, but the great arcade driving model, and the endless number of tracks thanks to the excellent track editor make it great fun.

[Heliocentric]

driving on an Icerink and your car is made out of glass

I'd play that.


Assassin's Creed Revelations multiplayer - I never tried the multiplayer for Brotherhood, and now I know that is the worst mistake I have made in my entire life. Simultaneously fast, deliberate, stealthy, frantic, thoughtful, twitchy, and just a huge amount of fun. Love it.
Yes...

Yes sir! And Wanted is the best mode.
Yes?

It's just a great experience.
Yes!

[Battle Programmer Spike]

Yes?

From my not so humble viewpoint, it is :P.

[NathanH]

So, i joined the Thieves Guild, robbed some fellow's expensive wine cellar, didn't notice he had walked in, got arrested. I'd stolen a snazzy outfit from him too. Oh well, back to prison clothes again.

This is basically like playing that disturbing Oblivion furry comic.

[Velko]

Red Orchestra 2. It's fun. Really fun.

But the unlock-system feels a bit... stupid. I'm constantly levelling up something (honor, weapons, whatever), all the time BLING BLING BLING YOU GAINED A LEVEL but it seems to have no effect on anything. Two days in, I started completely ignoring the levelling system.

[Raaritsgozilla]

Agreed. I'm level 25 with my Mauser and it seems worthless. Honor doesnt matter, leveling up a gun increases your ability so little it may as well not even happen

[TechnoJellyfish]

ravelle or others - Do you have a suggestion for another racing game, nothing too simmey or too arcadey?

You may want to check out "Shift 2" nonetheless. It's definitely on the sim side of the racing game spectrum, but it's not a hardcore sim either.

I'm in no way into racing sims (last I remember playing has to be "Grand Prix 3" :D), but I got "Shift 2" in a recent sale on GG and enjoy it quite a bit. It features an extensive and diverse career mode, fairly good driving physics and the cockpit view is done better than in any other game I've seen to date. The sense of speed is also really good, a thing most racing sims seem to lack.

Downsides? The UI is unintuitive and extremely overladen, the AI is unreasonably aggressive at times and steering controls do feel a little awkward with a gamepad (laggy? I can't put my finger on it), but it seems I got used to it. Also, the game requires an EA account.

[Vexing Vision]

Just finished Defender's Quest which I scored from the Because We May sale.

Surprisingly fun for a tower-defense game - the RPG aspects are really well done, even though I found armor obsolete. Good closure at the ending, and some interesting and unexpected mechanics at the last few battles - very well worth it.

[roryok]

I've been playing Thief : Gold for the first time and to be completely honest I'm finding it dull. I'm on the mages tower level and it's become a platform game.

Every level has some fun blackjacking / archery and then it's just boring. I can't seem to give a shit about the story. I'm on the verge of giving up on it

[Ravelle]

More Splinter Cell Conviction and I suck at it, I keep accidentally pulling attention and getting myself killed hundreds of times, and doing parts of a level over and over again is so frustrating.

[CSGrimey]

Playing through Half Life 2 for the second time since getting back into PC gaming.
Also playing through Saints Row 2, but it's hard playing such a bad port (random crashes, very inconsistent performance etc).

[Heliocentric]

More Splinter Cell Conviction and I suck at it, I keep accidentally pulling attention and getting myself killed hundreds of times, and doing parts of a level over and over again is so frustrating.

Add me on steam (heliocentric) if you are interested in getting over the hump with some help.

[The JG Man]

JG_Man looks at time played of Binding of Isaac before playing it last night.

JG_Man looks at time played of Binding of Isaac after playing this afternoon.

Jeez. I've spent 8 hours on it since the expansion came out. That's what I've been playing, apparently. Also, screw glitches. I beat the original final boss Satan but because I had a petrify attack, it broke the boss. I had a gazillion hearts, an explosive attack AND a constant laser (with aforementioned petrify). I really wanted the D6 too...

[Nalano]

@Nalano, thanks for the answer. I played it with the powertools thing back then. Since I think I'll replay it sometime soon, I'll give it a go with the stability patches from that other mod as well.

Idolninja promised at one point (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=29696664&postcount=8) to try and make Gentlemen of the Row 2.0 to allow players to be able to pick and choose how their game gets modded. As it stands, your options are binary: "no bug or mission fixes," or "bug and mission fixes, plus a shitload of unnecessary fan mods." I dunno if that's still in the works.

It grates a little when the game is basically unplayable without being modded, because it's like my choices in Skyrim are "crashes every two hours" or "has a grab-bag of Nexus mods including My Pretty Pony dragons and Top Hat Crabs."

[Kodeen]

Idolninja promised at one point (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=29696664&postcount=8) to try and make Gentlemen of the Row 2.0 to allow players to be able to pick and choose how their game gets modded. As it stands, your options are binary: "no bug or mission fixes," or "bug and mission fixes, plus a shitload of unnecessary fan mods." I dunno if that's still in the works.

It grates a little when the game is basically unplayable without being modded, because it's like my choices in Skyrim are "crashes every two hours" or "has a grab-bag of Nexus mods including My Pretty Pony dragons and Top Hat Crabs."

That was my concern when I was researching the mod. So even with the fan crap, you'd still recommend playing SR2 with the mod?

[eRa]

Having purchased the insanely cheap Paradox bundle from Amazon I'm playing Crusader Kings 2 and Sword of the Stars 2.

Oddly enough, both games have a terrible standard font, trying to find font mods now.

[Ravelle]

Add me on steam (heliocentric) if you are interested in getting over the hump with some help.

Will do, it's mostly because of my impatience with these type of games.

[arathain]

Having purchased the insanely cheap Paradox bundle from Amazon...

What Paradox bu... Crusader Kings 2 for $10! But... I don't need any more games right now... will... failing... reaching for...credit card...

[Jams O'Donnell]

The bad news: Video card is dead.
The good news: Thief has a good software renderer.

I think I'll make it through this tragedy just fine.
Actually no I won't, I can't get it running in software mode. So sad.

[Kodeen]

Buy a video card with money.

[Jams O'Donnell]

Buy a video card with money.
Need to go through the RMA process first. The dead card is only like 8 months old.

Edit: Great victory! While Thief might refuse to work, Thief 2 runs perfectly. All hail Intel onboard graphics, for a change.

[Rauten]

All hail Intel onboard graphics, for a change.

Never! Do you hear me!? NEVER!!

[Casimir Effect]

Mirror's Edge is a great game. It really is. But it really does show the inadequacies of our typical control systems. Not mouse, keyboard or gamepad. More the way input works in the games themselve. ME does a great job (probably the best job in FPS) of letting so many ledges be grabbed, wall-running be done, bars swung on and other fluid things; yet it still has so many frustrating moments where Faith doesn't grab the thing in front of her and falls to her death, or flaps at a ledge several times, or falls through a bar rather than grabbing it, or jumps at a wall instead of running along it, or etc etc.
The only seeming way to reduce this problem is to go the AssCreed route where most tricky freerunning things are doing by holding a button and running at the thing: seamlessness accompanied by reduced skill, which isn't a good solution. Or to pump so much money and time into the game that every little action can be modelled and allowed for, but that's not going to happen soon.

That fucking atrium level...
That's what has brought this on. Going through the ship was also a pain but nothing compared to that damn atrium.

[Roufuss]

Not on the PC, but Dragon's Dogma.

It's really a shame that Capcom didn't port this one over, because it would really find a good home on the PC; it has that PC RPG feel to it.

[airtekh]

That fucking atrium level...
That's what has brought this on. Going through the ship was also a pain but nothing compared to that damn atrium.

Really? Wow. The atrium was actually my favourite part of Mirror's Edge. Looking up at the ceiling and trying to figure out an acrobatic route to the roof was cool.

Agree that the ship sucks major balls though; far too many open areas with lots of guards. The upper levels of the Shard pissed me off as well. God I really wish DICE hadn't put any combat in that game; it would be one of my favourite games ever otherwise.

[Sketch]

New York Minute on Max Payne 3. It's good fun, but damn dying and having to restart can be crushing.

That said, I might wait for the PC release to play NYM Hardcore - no deaths at all! I wonder if the some complaints about it being too hard will be about the PC version too. I wouldn't have thought so, but still.

[jnx]

I'm really waiting for the MP3 pc release. I haven't prebought, and won't, since Rockstar and pc versions, well you know. But from the things they've said and shown I kind'a expect and am hopeful about an actually good pc port. There aren't really any third person online shooters on pc and if done well this could become very popular.

[Sketch]

Yeah I hope it's good too. They say the textures are 4x larger and the audio is uncompressed which is why the install is so large. I hope someone manages to mod it too.

[Vexing Vision]

Finding myself for some reason replaying Alpha Protocol. Damn did I forget how awesome the dialogues and moral choices are.

Shame about the actual running around and shooting, though, but there you go. It isn't THAT bad, but it feels just like the combat in Mirror's Edge - just let me do the conversations instead!

[jnx]

Finding myself for some reason replaying Alpha Protocol. Damn did I forget how awesome the dialogues and moral choices are.

Shame about the actual running around and shooting, though, but there you go. It isn't THAT bad, but it feels just like the combat in Mirror's Edge - just let me do the conversations instead!

I tried playing that for the first time a couple of months ago. Is it just me, or hasn't the game actually received any patches since release? I can recognize the potential there but it sure feels awkward.

[alset85]

I tried playing that for the first time a couple of months ago. Is it just me, or hasn't the game actually received any patches since release? I can recognize the potential there but it sure feels awkward.They released one patch that didn't do much. And then dropped all support altogether. The camera screw when streaming new content is still there. So are disappearing npcs when loading checkpoints on certain missions. But at least they removed DRM with that one patch.

[coldvvvave]

All hail Intel onboard graphics, for a change.
Remember this: when you have black screen and "no signal" for no reason on an Intel onboard chip - try "CTRL+ALT+F1"( if you are using VGA).

I played few DoW2R games and I'm glad to see that community isn't as dead as I thought, about a thousand people are online and matchmaking finds people withing 5 minutes average. of course, I lost most of the games since I was paired against people like HolyHammer and the likes.

[Heliocentric]

*joins the chorus in singing "been playing Binding of Issac: Wrath of Dave Lamb*

[Vexing Vision]

I tried playing that for the first time a couple of months ago. Is it just me, or hasn't the game actually received any patches since release? I can recognize the potential there but it sure feels awkward.

I've never played a game with controls this... uh... "swampy", I suppose.

The storyline and dialogues are great though, and worth the pain of admission. Just make sure you adjust the mouse-sensitivity - you'll need several tries to do it.


On the plus side, I still really like the hacking mini-game.

[jnx]

I've never played a game with controls this... uh... "swampy", I suppose.

The storyline and dialogues are great though, and worth the pain of admission. Just make sure you adjust the mouse-sensitivity - you'll need several tries to do it.


On the plus side, I still really like the hacking mini-game.

It was instantly obvious that the game works far superior on 360 controller, so I quit with the mouse and keyboard right away. Also at least in the beginning the player character is a douchebag.

[thegooseking]

I've gone back to playing Just Cause 2. Goldeneye notwithstanding, why are games that are obviously inspired by James Bond so much better than games that actually feature James Bond? It's frustrating.

(Actually, that sort of ties in with discussing Alpha Protocol as well, I suppose. It's almost impossible to imagine a cross between Alpha Protocol and Just Cause 2, but that would be awesome. Especially if you got to be Bond.)

[Ravelle]

I've gone back to playing Just Cause 2. Goldeneye notwithstanding, why are games that are obviously inspired by James Bond so much better than games that actually feature James Bond? It's frustrating.

(Actually, that sort of ties in with discussing Alpha Protocol as well, I suppose. It's almost impossible to imagine a cross between Alpha Protocol and Just Cause 2, but that would be awesome. Especially if you got to be Bond.)

I enjoyed the Goldeneye on the Wii, actually.

[The JG Man]

I'm sure I remember reading quite some time ago that Avalanche were being drafted to do a Bond game, but it's been so long I can't remember if that was true or if it was just some people going "Oh my god, imagine if they did a Bond game!" enough times that it kind of sank in. At any rate, they're definitely working on JC3. Logically, they can only extend it either into space and into water (playable submarines and space ships would become a necessity) or more land. Or both. I don't mind. Just give me JC3.

[vinraith]

It was instantly obvious that the game works far superior on 360 controller, so I quit with the mouse and keyboard right away. Also at least in the beginning the player character is a douchebag.

KB&M is a disaster in Alpha protocol, and I can't play shooters with a controller (tried 5 times to pass the shooting test at the beginning of the game with a 360 controller, never broke 40%, got quadruple that the first time I went back to KB&M) so I ultimately just gave up on the game.

[sonson]

Collecting policemen in Saints Row Three and throwing them off a bridge. It dosen't save game sessions though so they won't be there when I go back, but before I quit yesterday there were 57 treading water and shouting threats at me.

This is just dicking around stuff though, I've been re-decorating so not had time for any extended sessions. Although having said that I was throwing people off bridges for about three hours last night.
But the next free time I have is bookmarked for finishing Psychonauts, about to start Black Velvetopia and have collected the rest of the disguise items so figure I must be nearing the end game.

[Kodeen]

I've played a little bit of Treasure Adventure Game, and so far it is just completely brilliant. The writing is light-hearted without being cheesy, the music is great, there are really neat environmental touches (phases for the moon, flickering letters on neon signs, etc...), and I'm a sucker for Metroidvanias. It's a free game, which just blows my mind. Especially in a world where Gish costs money.

[Althea]

78% through Saints Row the Third apparently. Got all 80 collectables now, own all properties, and I've got a few more things here and there to do as well as all but the first mission of Act 3 (I think).

[alms]

Should I preorder Torchlight 2? something tells me it's better I don't...

http://i.imgur.com/lPBdm.png

[The JG Man]

That is not a short amount of time! Blimey.

Anyhow, Binding of Isaac. Screw the original final final boss. Second time I've reached him with Eve in 24 hours, second time I died on his final form. Screw him. Screw him hard.

[fiddlesticks]

I've spent far too much time this week playing the Wrath of the Lamb expansion for Binding of Isaac. After several runthroughs, my feelings are somewhat mixed. There's a lot of neat stuff but some decisions really bother me. Spoilers below.

- The new items are generally all very good. There's a lot of fun new combinations you can try out and unlike the items in the base game there isn't really anything that you regret picking up. There's one exception to this though, Ipecac, which gives you exploding shots. The concept itself is great, but you have so little control over where your shots land, which means in cramped rooms it can backfire incredibly quickly. With a few adjustmens this could become one of the best items in the game, but as it is I'd rather just skip it and save myself the headache. On the other hand, Epic Fetus is absolutely amazing.

- The difficulty feels really wonky at the moment. Granted, due to the random nature of BoI the difficulty always varied between playthoughs, but you usually still got a sense of progression. With all the new monsters and room configurations you can run into some really nasty stuff very early on. In fact I'd say the early levels are now more challenging than the later ones, especially for low health characters. On the other hand, once you assemble a set of powerful items you're essentially unstoppable.

- Flight is now too common. Before WotL the ability to fly was very rare and subsequently very powerful. As far as I can tell the expansion added four new items with the flight ability, one of which almost always appears in shops. A large part of BoI's gameplay is adjusting your strategy to the layout of a room so having an item that completely trivializes this feels somewhat cheesy. Then again, some new rooms almost seem to require flight if you want to avoid damage.

- In general, the new items spawn a lot more often than the old ones. I don't actually mind this as it gives me a chance to play with all the new toys but I do hope the spawns are eventually changed around again. Finding the Holy Grail and the Prayer Card on every run gets tiresome rather quickly.

- I'm not really sold on Samson as a character so far. His rage ability is nice but it doesn't make up for his bad stats. Surviving the first few floors with him is very difficult, especially if you get the cellar instead of the basement. Giving him two hearts instead of one would do a lot to make him more viable.

- Likewise, I'm not too keen on the new final boss. His gimmick is that he shoots you every time you shoot him. Which sounds fine in theory but what it means is that anyone with a slow firing but highly damaging attack like Brimstone or Dr. Fetus will have a very easy time while anyone with Technology 2 will find it nearly impossible to beat him. Overall he also feels a bit easier than Satan, though that might just be because of the new powerful items you can get.

- There's a quite a few new bugs. Some of them are fairly minor like Samson showing up as Eve in the cutscenes. Others are really annoying though, such as unlocked items not showing up properly or enemies becoming immune to damage. I hope these get sorted out as soon as possible.

In the end, I'd still say it was a worthy purchase and I'd recommend it to anyone who owns BoI. WotL adds so many items, monsters and secrets that it almost feels like a completely new game again. However, I do think the expansion could have benefited from some additional playtesting.

[khaz]

Should I preorder Torchlight 2? something tells me it's better I don't...

http://i.imgur.com/lPBdm.png

What's your total playing time?

[alms]

Probably not much more, I did log some hours in 2009 off Steam but I quit as soon as my first character died (hardcore it was) and never looked back... until a few weeks ago.

Yesterday I was in the final stages of my first attempt to beat the game in under 8h with a Destroyer but I took it too easy in the early stages doing quests, so I only hit level 32 at the deadline. Playing against the clock really added a new shiny layer of addictiveness to it, I was hurling my character right in the middle of massive heaps of monsters, at some point I was fighting against 2 champions (1 medea), 3 dark zealots + their team of blood disciples, a bunch of dragonkins and s**tload of enslaved (on hard) and trying to stay alive... that was thrilling.

So now I'm planning to beat Ordrak, retire this character, then do it all over again. I also have a L85 Vanquisher which is currently on floor 40 of the Shadow vault.

I'm worried. Whoever said this game is digital crack was downplaying it.

[Battle Programmer Spike]

Go ahead with the Pre-Order for Torchlight 2. You shall not regret it. Also, you get a spare copy of digital crack to send someone whose life you wish to ruin :)

[sabrage]

Wouldn't you know it... Right as Diablo 3 started to really grip me, Blizzard went and shit the bed again. Playing Nightmare with all this stuttering really is a nightmare, especially since I stopped playing co-op when 1 in 3 pubs decided it's ok to join and then AFK in the camp while I get slaughtered by superpowered mobs. I tried, Diablo, I really did... But I'll be jumping ship to Torchlight now.

[NathanH]

I now have 400 septims, a set of stolen steel armour, and have remembered that Nords have a greater power that can one-shot anything low-level. Time to kick some ass.

[Ravelle]

Splintercell Conviction became Super Meat boy for me. I'm at the army base right after disabling the Power thingy and now I have to get out of there with 30 soldier guys lurking around. The difficulty went from 5 to 10 in half a level. =/

[eRa]

I'm attempting to play Diablo 3. Alas, error 30008 prevents me from starting a game. I can login just fine though!

[Raaritsgozilla]

Splintercell Conviction became Super Meat boy for me. I'm at the army base right after disabling the Power thingy and now I have to get out of there with 30 soldier guys lurking around. The difficulty went from 5 to 10 in half a level. =/

It helps if you just creep to the left then silent takedown anyone when they get too close to your shadows. Then mark and execute groups of 2 or 3 if you have upgraded your pistols to it. Rinse and repeat.
The hardest part I found on that mission was when you finally get into the gatehouse and kill the lights everyone rushes you. Hit cover and pop out for shots.

I loved conviction. One of the few games that held me in for long enough to complete it. Same as ME2

[Ravelle]

I managed to kill a couple by using the hide next to a door opening and stab everyone who walks through it, didn't know there was a back door though. Sam dies pretty quick.

[cosmicolor]

Mount and Blade Warband again, trying to ingratiate myself with King Ragnar. I will work my way up the ladder, damnit.

[Anthile]

Started playing Saints Row 3 and while the game itself is great fun; despite about a gorillion customization options there seem to be neither top hats nor monocles available. How am I supposed to play the game properly now?
It's disgusting how the game industry treats us top hat wearers. Arcanum had bullet-deflecting top hats, now THAT was a game.

[Juan Carlo]

Finished Avernum 4. Strangely, it was by far the easiest Spiderweb game I've ever played on torment. I probably had less than 15 party wipes for the first 90% of the game. Not sure what he did different for that game. Plus, story wise, it certainly took its sweet time to get interesting. The main plot doesn't kick in until like 20-30 hours into the game, which on the one hand takes balls (not to mention trust in your audience), but on the other hand the earlier portions of the game do drag quite a bit. Still, once it gets good it gets pretty good, but I have to say it's probably my least favorite of all the spiderweb games I've ever played. It felt a bit rote--like Vogel was just churning it out quickly via formula to make a buck and fill the gap until Avernum 5.


Now I've started both Geneforge 4 and Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. Both are awesome so far. I've been playing through the Geneforge series since 1 and each game is a massive leap in quality from the last--both in terms of game design and (especially) writing. I know fans like to shit on Geneforge 3, for example, but personally I think that's when the series gets interesting as having only 2 very imperfect factions to choose from forces the game's universe to go to some very, very grey areas. I actually think only "The Witcher" series rivals the later Geneforge games when it comes to moral ambiguity of the sorts of choices you can make (e.g. good intentions often turn out bad, and the justifications for evil often sound strangely good). I'm looking forward to completing the series.

As to Assassin's Creed, I always shit on video game music, but I have to admit that the main theme to Assassin's Creed has kind of grown on me. I still don't play with the music on, though, just because the music that plays during the game proper is annoying and pretty terrible (melodramatic children whispering? Awful psuedo-Opera? And the music that plays when you burn a tower sounds like a shitty Phantom of the Opera reject). I've barely started the game proper, though, just because with AC games I'm always compelled to seek out every single crow's nest before actually starting to play. It's kind of annoying.

[Spider Jerusalem]

superbrothers and whoooooaahooooo it's the worst thing in the universe and i hate it.

[Nalano]

Started playing Saints Row 3 and while the game itself is great fun; despite about a gorillion customization options there seem to be neither top hats nor monocles available. How am I supposed to play the game properly now?

There's a top hat available from Nobody Loves Me.

No monocles, tho.

[Boris]

Bastion, from the bundle. Trine 2, from my birthday. League of Legends with friends. I also have a huge stack of games I still need to work through.

[sonson]

Started playing Saints Row 3 and while the game itself is great fun; despite about a gorillion customization options there seem to be neither top hats nor monocles available. How am I supposed to play the game properly now?
It's disgusting how the game industry treats us top hat wearers. Arcanum had bullet-deflecting top hats, now THAT was a game.

Top hat from Nobody Loves Me, as above. In a similar sartorial vein you can get a bowler hat from the NyteBlade pack which comes free with the Season One Pass, I have no idea if it's worth it full price having not played any of it but its similarly discounted in the Steam Midweek Madness deal so I bought it for £4.23 or whatever it was. There isn't much in life which costs less than £4.23 these days.

[Scumbag]

The Void

...

[Heliocentric]

Bastion, from the bundle. Trine 2, from my birthday. League of Legends with friends. I also have a huge stack of games I still need to work through.

Enjoy Trine 2, its charming, see if you can drag friend to the keyboard, set them as the Warrior (and/or the Thief if they are used to controllers) and explore away. It will be over all too soon. Where is that damn expansion.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/03/19/looking-fine-trine-2-expansion/


superbrothers and whoooooaahooooo it's the worst thing in the universe and i hate it.

I was considering buying the bundle just for this (as i have all the others on steam) is it really that bad?


I've barely started the game proper, though, just because with AC games I'm always compelled to seek out every single crow's nest before actually starting to play. It's kind of annoying.
You'll burn out twice as fast if you do that.

Try and keep your activities varied between exploration, patience and action. The game no efforts to guide you to variety until Ass Creed 2.


It helps if you just creep to the left then silent takedown anyone when they get too close to your shadows. Then mark and execute groups of 2 or 3 if you have upgraded your pistols to it. Rinse and repeat.
The hardest part I found on that mission was when you finally get into the gatehouse and kill the lights everyone rushes you. Hit cover and pop out for shots.

I loved conviction. One of the few games that held me in for long enough to complete it. Same as ME2
Do you know how hard we are in the minority? Really though, had the game been called "Borne: Superlative" people would be hailing it as the greatest movie game since goldeneye and it would have universal acclaim, but because its "not splinter cell" peoples pants get twisted.

[FunnyB]

In a similar sartorial vein you can get a bowler hat from the NyteBlade pack which comes free with the Season One Pass, I have no idea if it's worth it full price having not played any of it but its similarly discounted in the Steam Midweek Madness deal so I bought it for £4.23 or whatever it was. There isn't much in life which costs less than £4.23 these days.

That's quite a good price, considering the season pass includes the three DLC packs that actually matter, Genkibowl VII, Gangstas in Space and Trouble With Clones.

Gangstas in Space and to a lesser extent Trouble with Clones are really good!

[Labbes]

I'm currently playing Divinity II: Dragon Knight Saga which I got from amazon for 6$. It's quite good, doesn't take itself too seriously and mind reading was a fantastic idea.
Later in the day, I will probably play some Binding of Isaac (I was quite good at it, now my skills are rubbish) and Day Z. Both games have in common that I die a lot, although Isaac thankfully doesn't have any ladders. Goddamn ladders.

[sonson]

That's quite a good price, considering the season pass includes the three DLC packs that actually matter, Genkibowl VII, Gangstas in Space and Trouble With Clones.

Gangstas in Space and to a lesser extent Trouble with Clones are really good!

I'm sure I'll enjoy it, as SR III has been the best Rollercoaster Tycoon type stupid creative fun I've had on a computer since Rollercoatser Tycoon came out. Wasn't wanting to recommend it objectivley is all.

I haven't bought any of the other DLC but if/when it hits half price I'll buy most of it that fits the game's best tropes. Not too fussed about the Penthouse Pets (ugh) or the cheat one but anything that lets me shoot things in a fun way whilst looking stupid (and in the game) will be first on my summer sale shopping list.

[Giaddon]

I was considering buying the bundle just for this (as i have all the others on steam) is it really that bad?

It is, though why not give charity some money to find out for yourself?

[Doodier]

Both games have in common that I die a lot, although Isaac thankfully doesn't have any ladders. Goddamn ladders.
There are ladders in BoI! :) And they are quite handy, too, if you don't have any items for flying.

[Heliocentric]

It is, though why not give charity some money to find out for yourself?

Sound argument.

I can decide if I'm in the "its art" camp or the "its crap" camp too.

[Althea]

I would be playing Saints Row the Third but Gaben's piece of shit DRM software decided to overwrite my latest saves with earlier ones meaning I've lost almost a week's worth of progress.

Fuck.
That.
Shit.

Fuck you, Gaben. Seriously.

[Althea]

Ho-ho fuck yes, Bill Gates' Windows 7 saves the day.

Fuck you, Gaben!

[Malawi Frontier Guard]

It's not his fault.

[Nalano]

And I highly doubt that there's a line of code for "randomly fuck with people's savegames for the lulz."

[Althea]

And I highly doubt that there's a line of code for "randomly fuck with people's savegames for the lulz."
I dunno, it happens frequently enough that you'd think they'd do something to rectify it.

Example being the date modified aspect of the window that pops up when your local and cloud saves don't match - having "Yesterday" as last modified is REALLY not helpful.

[eRa]

I dunno, it happens frequently enough that you'd think they'd do something to rectify it.

Example being the date modified aspect of the window that pops up when your local and cloud saves don't match - having "Yesterday" as last modified is REALLY not helpful.

You can just disable cloud saves. I never had missmatch issues but the save files of Skyrim tend to get huge and the uploading takes way to much time.

[Nalano]

I dunno, it happens frequently enough that you'd think they'd do something to rectify it.

I've never had a problem with it. My immediate instinct would be to check my computer clock to make sure it's the right time.

[Doodier]

I dunno, it happens frequently enough that you'd think they'd do something to rectify it.

Example being the date modified aspect of the window that pops up when your local and cloud saves don't match - having "Yesterday" as last modified is REALLY not helpful.
Are you playing on more than one computer?

[Althea]

Are you playing on more than one computer?
No.

I'll go through and disable Cloud on things, but... still. It shouldn't happen in the first place.

[NathanH]

I have occasionally had some unexplained cloud errors, but it always asks me if I want to use the local version when this happens.

[Battle Programmer Spike]

I dunno, it happens frequently enough that you'd think they'd do something to rectify it.

Example being the date modified aspect of the window that pops up when your local and cloud saves don't match - having "Yesterday" as last modified is REALLY not helpful.

Whenever that happens (if it happens at all. I think I saw that cloud window asking me about the saves only once during this year) I choose to upload the saves from my computer to the cloud. Because I know the most recent ones are on my computer.

[Althea]

Whenever that happens (if it happens at all. I think I saw that cloud window asking me about the saves only once during this year) I choose to upload the saves from my computer to the cloud. Because I know the most recent ones are on my computer.
Guess which idiot hit the wrong button?

[Nalano]

Guess which idiot hit the wrong button?

Not Gaben?

[Althea]

Not Gaben?
Well, maybe if it gave me more details than "Cloud save from Yesterday" or "Local save from Yesterday"...

[Nalano]

Well, maybe if it gave me more details than "Cloud save from Yesterday" or "Local save from Yesterday"...

Local trumps cloud. Unless your computer recently blew up, why would you think differently?

[Althea]

Local trumps cloud. Unless your computer recently blew up, why would you think differently?
Panic? The fact Steam syncs after game closure?

[Nalano]

Panic? The fact Steam syncs after game closure?

I gotta laugh at a lose:lose situation on the part of a company where consumers will complain "you took all our choices away as if we're children!" while at the same time complaining "why did you give us a choice where we could shoot ourselves in the foot?"

[Althea]

I gotta laugh at a lose:lose situation on the part of a company where consumers will complain "you took all our choices away as if we're children!" while at the same time complaining "why did you give us a choice where we could shoot ourselves in the foot?"
Well, yeah, they did take our choices away (well, THQ did by forcing Steamworks), and Valve are responsible for it either cocking up (which it did) or for the interface being user unfriendly (which it was).

I didn't do shit on my part - the reason I (almost) lost my save was because Steam fucked up.

[Nalano]

Well, yeah, they did take our choices away (well, THQ did by forcing Steamworks), and Valve are responsible for it either cocking up (which it did) or for the interface being user unfriendly (which it was).

I didn't do shit on my part - the reason I (almost) lost my save was because Steam fucked up.

No, you panicked and picked the wrong choice. How much handholding do you want?

THQ chose to use Steamworks. The system didn't cock up - it worked fine. The interface made it abundantly clear you were choosing between a backup and a local save. You may complain about the lack of an accurate timestamp, but why would you assume the backup is more recent than the local save? The backup is made from the local save.

[Althea]

The backup is made from the local save.
So the local save has to come first, doesn't it?

And I assumed that Steam Cloud had uploaded the latest save as it should do. Both it and the latest local said they were made yesterday. As it turns out, the Cloud save was actually from about Tuesday.

That is a system not fully functioning.

[Nalano]

That is a system not fully functioning.

And it self-corrected when it asked you which should over-ride the other! The system is working fine!

Again, unless your computer blew up, why would you copy back the backups?

[NathanH]

Unless you are playing on more than one computer, the local save will always be the one to choose.

[Althea]

And it self-corrected when it asked you which should over-ride the other! The system is working fine!
It self-corrected? How is telling me it has a cloud save from "Yesterday" (Yesterday, in Valve Time, being Tuesday) the system self-correcting and/or working correctly?

[Nalano]

Probably because it goes off of Date Modified. Geez.

[Althea]

Which is why "Yesterday" is not an acceptable quantity for "date modified". Give me at least the time, Valve.

[Nalano]

Which is why "Yesterday" is not an acceptable quantity for "date modified". Give me at least the time, Valve.

The system wouldn't even be asking you about it if it didn't error out the last time it tried. Simple logic.

[Althea]

The system wouldn't even be asking you about it if it didn't error out the last time it tried. Simple logic.
The system could be a bit more specific, that's all I'm saying.

[Vague-rant]

The system could be a bit more specific, that's all I'm saying.

That, and "Fuck you, Gaben!" of course...

[Kodeen]

The thickness of Gaben's skin has been enhanced with a plastering of lacquered $100 bills. He'll be okay.

[Nalano]

The thickness of Gaben's skin has been enhanced with a plastering of lacquered $100 bills. He'll be okay.

And the kneejerk hate has been ratcheted up accordingly. :p

[The JG Man]

The Binding of Isaac continues to increase in money spent: entertainment received. If the Steam timer is to believed, I've put in 15.7 hours since the expansion came out. I spent what, £6 for this game? I'm currently sitting at 42.9 hours. Going through a lot of the other players I didn't go through before the xpac hit. The achievements in this game, along with Super Meat Boy, are done properly; they issue a challenge and the suitable reward of a badge of honour and maybe a new item/boss/something depending on what the achievement is. Due to the insane replayability, the achievements come off as being more of an incentive of play rather than something to grind out. Only a small amount are actually based on luck too.

Looking on the stats page, it's pretty scary though. Apparently only 37.2% of players have beaten Mom.

[Althea]

That, and "Fuck you, Gaben!" of course...
Yup. :D I like to yell that randomly.

[Kodeen]

Yup. :D I like to yell that randomly.

Just don't go to the diamond jubilee parade. I don't know how they'll take that.

[alms]

You can just disable cloud saves. I never had missmatch issues but the save files of Skyrim tend to get huge and the uploading takes way to much time.

I'm not entirely sure of that. The other day I disenchanted my main char's 1800+ DPS bow in TL, so the choice was between having my ass handed to me on a regular basis or mess with savefiles.

Regardless of my disabling the cloud, it was still rewriting savefiles with cloud backups until I touch'ed the file and got the magic "your savefiles are newer than blabla".