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Mikka

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Finally read the last couple pages in the thread. Been lazy. my cents worth of opinion.

 

The Carth/Kaiden thing is almost certainly related to (and about 99% due to) the fact that they share a voice actor. Silly Bioware...

 

I liked Nasher. I always felt that the decisions he made were due do making hard choices. You can tell a lot about a person by their choices in such matters. Fenthic was an unfortunate scapegoat to soothe the masses who were righteously pissed off. If the people had rioted do you think that the city, weakened by plague, would be in any position to defend itself against the many consipirators in their midst? And Aribeth was a traitor. Manipulated yes, but how many died through her actions? And after that had happened could she be trusted again? No. A quick, merciful death was likely the best that could be expected, and it was through *that* which she was redeemed, and set up the bitterness for Hordes of the Underdark.

 

And Bastilla, she I liked best after she fell to the dark side, though I just wish she didn't have to pick up the villian idiot ball if you don't fall also. "The power of love redeems you" part was also well played imho. Though Bindo did steal the show. If I was a jedi, I'd be just like Jolee! Wise old snarky man, with wisdom far surpassing the supposed masters.... And also I loved HK47.... too many excellent quotes from that game.

 

I didn't like NWN2 so much. It felt even more unpolished than KotOR2 to me, which is really saying something, although I loved the castle commander part's feel. I just wish they had expanded on that more. As for KotOR2, I didn't really have a favorite character. That game was all about the consequences of your actions, (or past actions in the story's case) and either closing the Exiles story with a positive note, mending the wound in the force... or putting salt and Tobasco sauce on it by being a jackass. Both are equally fun. Great sequel hook, althoguh I have only consternations over the MMO story, as I don't like MMOs or this one's story so I just reject both outright.

 

Dragon Age was all about the mages. There is no such thing as too much power. Even at medium difficulty halfway through the campaign my mage/spirit healer/arcane warrior was the only thing that could survive the battles and keep damaging or healing as the case may be. (at more than one point running frantically through the map waiting for the resurection magic cooldown to finish.) The game was designed more for team tactics and crap but I only really bothered to keep their armor decent, micromanaging my PC only. I played a female mage who stole all of Morrigan's AND Wynne's thunder, haha! I'd say that the feel of the series in general is slanted torwards magic, so it's not a huge surprise that the mage's story was one of the stronger ones. though if I had to say, I'd guess that Oghren was the character I liked the most, although that might be mostly due to his dual appearances in the main game and awakenings, along with his mostly carefree badass vibe I get from him. I *loved* awakenings with the exception that you get railroaded into the final sequence once you finish the 3rd dungeon, so whoever you acquired last will not become a warden unless you went back before completing the dungeon, to say nothing about certain buggy character sidequests *cough*sigrun*cough*

 

I have no doubt DA2's lackluster was the result of EA's influence, and so we shall see if Bioware can make a recovery, though I confess the story was not really as bad as it was unpolished.

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Oh, we need examples of those events for the new kids. Good luck with both writing and transcribing. Get loads of wine. It helps.

 

@freespace

 

We kinda took over this with the game conversations huh?

 

Nasher was an ex-adventurer first. The decisions weren't that hard. He already had a scapegoat outside of Fenthick. Could have paraded that guy's body. He had to save his own city from the plague. I get that, but let's kill the innocent to appease a population that would have been just as well appeased by better management (the prison thing was just silly) and the body of the other dude, it feels excessive. And marking him as Neverwinter's Greatest Traitor? Really? If he knew that guy was innocent, at least in death put him somewhere safe and stop spitting on his memory. I guess I liked him more than I did Aribeth, so I didn't give a damn about her back and forth around the alignment, but I felt like his death was just absurd.

Also, Nasher was annoying in NWN2. It almost seemed like all of his choices were specifically designed to piss off the players.

 

And I bet Aribeth was in Hell just to finally give a happy ending after all the fan outrage.

 

NWN2 would have been brilliant with a smaller chapter one and a bit of polish. It took too damn long to get us introduced with everything, but once it picked up some speed, I really enjoyed it.

 

What pissed me off about the KotOR MMO is that suddenly Bio's stories were made canon so now, no one can do a KotOR 3 without hand-waving whatever happened. I understand canon in RPGs if it's ambiguous or allows for change in the game. But making detailed and explicit canon just seems...urgh. Like the Baldur's Gate books which feel like badly written fanfiction to me.

 

The DA franchise seems all about the mages from every point of view. Which is understandable, seeing as they manipulate the forces of the universe, but they were nerfed, lore-wise. Very few spells, mostly on offensive? I would have gone insane too, if all my training resulted in lighting poor shmucks on fire and I had some jackasses with big swords watching over me constantly. Oghren was fun and pretty deep for a stereotype of a drunk fighter dwarf. Him and Sten were my favourite.

 

DA2's story felt disjointed. Out of place. There really was no need for it to have so many years pass between the chapters and only did so for the new gimmick part of it: "Spans over..." which replaced the Origins. And having a different villain for each chapter just helped the awkwardness. It actually makes more sense if you see it as a couple of weeks or months. Being a mage was annoying there (wait one minute for the stupid spell to recharge, don't drink two different potions one after another...). I did the whole one-on-one with the Arishok? It looked like a Benny Hill routine of me running around pillars and hitting him with ice every two minutes. It wasn't hard as much as irritating, which describes its combat perfectly.

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Scattered thoughts. I'm working on Project, which is hard and struggling and I'm sure I'm doing it wrong and whine whine complain. But anyway, I'm doing that so I probably shouldn't be posting on message boards. But I am.

 

There are (insert word of choice here) ants in my kitchen. In my kitchen. And the stupid insecticide people can't come here till next week. So that means a full week of just eating microwaveable food because I'm afraid to leave any food out with the ants all around. I am so annoyed. It's not like the kitchen was dirty either: the kitchen was (and is) very clean. I think we have a rotting floor board, and I am so angry at this apartment right now but it's the only home I have so, you know, not much I can do about it besides give up on life and move in with my poor grandparents (who would adore having me, but, well, yeah). I'm just mad. Grr! Angryface! :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:

 

Detention for Cuàn. Attention is for his adventure. It's all very complicated. I'll try to post writing examples for the two of them this week, if work with project goes smoothly. If it doesn't, well, there's always Sunday. Starting Sunday, it means I have my weekends back to myself rather then doing stuff every time, so I'll have time to do busywork on the kids.

 

I'm not sure I'm going to post the two events I did, though. I actually find the Cat torturing poor Aaran one amusing, so that might be saved to be a surprise when you finally see it in game.

 

They're definitely going to be an April release (I first wrote video release- seriously, what the heck am I on? Not enough wine!), not March. I am still hoping to get them out early April, but we'll see how that goes... I managed the last deadline I put on myself, but I'm not sure if I'll make this one. Cuàn doesn't even have his tables filled out yet. Poor Cuàn.

 

MadHatt mentioned putting Cuàn and Aaran together in a clique, which leads me to the question of 'I honestly have no idea how they would get along'. I imagine they'd both be like "Wow, someone is talking to me? What's up with this?" type routine. Hm... I think they would get along well enough if they actually started talking, but under normal circumstances neither would ever start talking to the other.

 

Speaking of video games, one of my favorites just came out with a new version- and it's free. IB, a Japanese (but translated in to English) puzzle/horror game. http://vgperson.com/games/ib.htm there to download it. It's about a nine year old girl who gets trapped in a nightmare version of an art gallery, and the two people she meets that are trapped there, too. Warning, though: even the best ending is bittersweet. This version added two more bad endings, so you can screw up even more! Hurray! It's about the closest to a horror game as I can stand, though it still gets pretty freaky on occasion, it uses RPGMaker graphics so it's not going to traumatize anyone or anything.

 

I still liked Dragon Age II. I think the not allowing you to spam the same spell (or ability) over and over made things a bit more tactical, personally. I found on the hardest difficulty the game to be pretty hard, with the reoccurring waves of enemies. The fight with the Arishok was, though, I agree, just an exercise in kiting. Summon Barkwall and run around in circles with the Arishok chasing you while your dog chases him. Rinse, repeat. Wait till he charges and then attack his back a few times and then go running off again. Not the best way to do a battle. I liked the years passing and the different villains, though, as it was made clear that the real villain in the piece was circumstance, not any individual person. A true villain was what Cassandra was looking for, but there was no one. There wasn't any one individual person to blame for madness. Which I sort of found refreshing.

 

It's sort of weird to me that you both liked Oghran- he was my least favorite character in DA, and I think he got even worse in Awakening. There he got sort of creepy sexist and even more annoying... drunk dwarf berserker running from his duties is a trope I've seen too much of. I would have liked any other character to come to Awakening with me instead of him. Even Dog. Maybe especially Dog.

 

The KOTOR stories were already made canon before the MMO came out. Revan was a male light-sider who romanced Bastila, Exile was a female light-sider who left the galaxy alone (save for with the droid) to follow him. Those have been canon for years- an EU book came out and confirmed it all. So you can't really blame the MMO for that... it's just the way of Star Wars to canonize all the video games. Usually as a male light-sider. Really rare that the Exile ended up a girl, actually.

 

As for TOR, the Agent storyline is awesome. It's as good as any single player game made these days, with all sorts of twists and turns and options. I'm almost tempted to make another agent just so I can play through it again. The others are hit and miss- I find Sith Warrior a genuine hit (the Agent story is beyond a hit- it's just awesome), with Jedi Councilor a definite miss, and the others all falling somewhere in-between. But after you complete each classes storylines, there's really nothing else to do with that MMO. The End-game and PVP are the same as any other game's end game and PVP, save for not as developed. Boring, in other words.

 

I'm not currently subscribed, though. Honestly, modding and projecting have taken up all my MMO time. ^^ ...I still play the Sims 3, though, which is sort of like an MMO with it's annoying grinding aspects and repetitive gameplay, though. It's like MMO-lite.

 

So yeah, kids. Cat and Cuàn. I'll try to post something in the main thread sometime soon. Probably about their familiars, first, then a writing sample? We'll see.

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To be fair, ants are nowhere near a big a deal as I've seen. Be thankful you don't have roaches. I've been there. Ants are more of a nuissance. Remember that they work by scent more than most insects. I recommend taking some cheap cologne or perfume and spray it over where they were. (They can't pathfind that way) then put on some clothes that you don't care about and spray bleach over the outide foundations of your house. If you have a garden closeby that might not work but trust me, you don't really need the exterminator for ants.

 

And I'm not ragging on Kotor1&2 stuff being canon so much as the fact that since the mmo came out I have to deal with the mmo's story being canon, which I dislike and would have rather seen a more proper sequel, which will now never happen.

 

(also, Oghren I believe was only acting sexist because he really isn't a "domestic" guy and it's a sort of defense mechanism. If you push him in his quests he'll start writing letters to his kid since the relationship didn't work out.)

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I remember camp...and being attacked by flying thingies that scared the hell out of us. There were two rooms we spent the nights in: the room where everyone smoked and there were no bugs (or air) and the room that smelled like cheap perfume because we killed them all with deodorant and FIRE.

 

Never had ants. Good luck with them. No useful advice, though. Outside of fire, of course. Fire solves everything.

 

Oooooo horror/puzzle! BOOKMARKED! Will give impressions after play.

 

I can accept that you liked DA2, honestly. :P I just really didn't. You named the dog Barkwall? That's ...inspired. I didn't have the dog the first time around. Got it in chapter...3? I got the game exactly when it was resealed - me and some mates - and we just played through it in a day or two, ignoring most DLC. We only got those later. I would have liked to see more of a natural cause of the things that went wrong...and not have a defining villain for the whole chapter. One mod that comes close is Almraiven...there is a clear villain but the issues that go around the city are vast, have mostly one source but in different ways. Like a shockwave. That would have been great.

 

Oghren was amusing to me for various reasons: he was a fun drunk, his story was both sad and he had the ability to get over it, mostly, and he was the outsider. His coping mechanism I could understand and he talked about other things than himself, so he didn't pass as whiny. I had fun with him. I would have liked Dog in Awakening though, even if my Warden was dead. I hope Sten took him and they travelled together back to the Qunari homeland.

 

I don't mean the canon for male and female..I can live with that. It's the 'what they did and how they died bit' that's terribly frustrating because playing a character right, he can end up an absolute killing machine. And they ...sort of blew it. Do you know what happened to them in the MMO? If not, I don't want to spoil. I just didn't like it.

 

Edit: also what freespace said. The story of what happened to them is simply lacklustre but is now forced into the canon so there could never be a proper sequel.

 

Didn't try a lot of the MMO. Played the free version a bit, read a lot, played some more and quit. It's not really that addictive and I'm not a fan of MMOs.

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I tried putting cinnamon out with the ants, which is another thing that smells thick and that they don't like. We can't put shirts outside, though, because of our stupid apartment codes. Honestly, I think the ants are living in the wood under our kitchen tiles (these are tiny ants, and that's where they live)- there's a huge crack in one that they won't repair because it's 'not that serious' even though I'm almost positive that's where the ants are coming from. Oh well. The swarm isn't as bad today, which is good- hopefully they took some of the bait trap now and are dying horribly (...I am a bad person) and rethinking their plan to invade my apartment. Screw you, ants!

 

As for the exterminator, he is free with our lease, so I'll take him. Even if it takes him a whole week. Mutter, grumble.

 

Bugs are sort of my bane. I'm allergic to most of them, I'm afraid of half of them, and the rest just creep me out. I'm one of those people who restarts in Academagia if I get the spider familiar. Sorry, spider familiar. I just can't deal with you. Your adventures may be wicked awesome, but you're just scary to me. Though I deal better with spiders then I do most insects. At least, the spiders that aren't able to hurt me. I don't like the ones that can hurt me.

 

KOTOR 3 was never going to happen the minute that Bioware guy wrote the Revan novel, which detailed the fates of Revan and the Exile. Don't get me wrong- I don't like what happened to them either. Or, to be more exact, I can deal with what happened to Revan (his fate was pretty cool, all things considered), but the Exile just getting... yeah. What the hell, the Exile was awesome. But I think blaming the MMO is unfair, when it was a book that sealed their canon- a book written by one of the writers of KOTOR 1, at that. He and LucasArts are what made it so there would never be a sequel, not the MMO. And the Jedi Knight storyline really is a sequel in itself: you fight the guy Revan and the Exile went up against with their third party member. It's as close to a sequel as LucasArts would let them write.

 

I like MMOs. But I got started on them young. I was playing Everquest when it first came out. Did one of those raiding teams that was up at all hours of the night every night. But I simply can't play like that anymore, and then I get annoyed because you don't see the full story of the game unless you raid, and I don't have time for raiding. Just too busy these days.

 

IB is cute... well, as cute as a horrorish game can be. You have to play it twice, though, and get um... half-good endings both times. That unlocks an extra dungeon you can access by going down the steps in the final area. The extra dungeon is fun, and has even more creepy events and puzzles going on. It's even funner if someone is in your party rather then you going at it alone. ;_; Let me know if you need hints for anything like the endings.

 

Yeah, I named the dog Barkwall. ;; DA1's dog was Barkspawn. I am not very original- those names are popular on the forum, too. Barkwall was a good doggy, though. I like how everyone pops in to come see your awesome dog instead of coming to see you on occasion. Varric's even playing poker with him, and the dog is better then Anders (though from what I hear, that's not exactly an achievement- Sandal's probably better then Anders). And then Anders tries to get the dog to act like a cat "Go ignore me!" like.

 

So, new kids. No progress with them. Working on project. Project remains hard.

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Cinnamon for ants? Huh. Never knew that.

 

I hate bugs too. I like spiders...even the large creepy ones, I just hate being ambushed in my own house by them. Otherwise they don't bother me much. It's one of the reasons I hate going camping or in a farm environment...I just can't deal with all the sounds of insects and living things and flying bugs. I live in the big city, I like it and if I want to check out nature, I'll just look out the window.

 

The novels were never that big of a deal...I mean, I didn't know much about them and I'm willing to bet a lot of people didn't either. I just think Bioware should have kept their hands away from the Star Wars series in general. Their points of view are a bit too black and white and in a series that already has that problem, it just makes it less enjoyable and harder to roleplay in. You're either the bad guy or the good guy and that's that. And the lines are so cheesy, especially as a good guy. I think this is why KotOR2 felt great..because it was just ambiguous enough to attract attention. And I really hate what happened to both of them because both Revan and the Exile had so much potential. I prefer the Old Republic to the New and just wanted to pursue the Sith...see what was going on, check out what Kreia was saying. Explore new environments, see the old Sith religion... The MMO is just an easier target than going at Bioware (again) for making it. I never thought they were a great company, just mediocre with some serious flaws, but just enough spark to cause some enjoyment. Their last game I liked was NWN (not the OC) with brief moments in Jade Empire and DA:O. And with their latest games, taking shots at it just feels like beating a dead horse.

 

Also, these are some of the decent and calm discussions I've ever had about DA2 and Bio. A lot of people are just so defensive about it or just eager to spew on it and I've never actually got to talk about it properly before.

 

When I first got a computer we played platforming like Crystal or Jasper. I never got a console, just a PC and we either emulated or got newer games (which, if I remember right we never bought, just borrowed CDs from one another that seemed like they hadn't had a starting point). And I got internet way late, at least reliable one instead of a modem. So MMOs just passed me by.

 

Will do. I just need to find the time to play through it properly, lights out and all that.

 

Hey, I named both my dogs 'Dog'. The whole visiting the dog cutscenes were cool, I agree. I hated the summoning mechanic...but the dogs were awesome in both games. Ever had Dog fight Loghain? Campy bordering on hilarious. Great General of the River Dane who got his ass handed to him by a mabari...

 

And hey, I bet Sandal has a wicked poker face.

 

So, new kids. I never thought about how they would go in a clique together. I gathered a lot of personalities in mine and I never thought about how they'd get along. Like Cyrus and Godina boys...and Olivia just always peeking into their stuff, because who is Cyrus spending his time with? The detention adventure proved that there are a lot of unspoken conflicts in the game and I'm interested on how that will work. I mean, imagine getting Lambert and Aymeri in the same clique and actually managing to keep them there. Do you think they become friends friends or ..just rival friends? Will we get an event to cool them off? Will they actively work against the clique or ..horror of horrors, band together and spy on the whole school? Imagine managing to stuff the most ambitious and antagonistic characters of both Durand and Aranaz into a single clique. You wouldn't even go to class, just manage relationships.

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I hate spiders, and it's tough to say whether they or roaches are my biggest bane. My uncle has a tarantula he calls "Aunt May." he even keeps the last skin it sheds. Creepy.

 

I also currently live in brown recluse territory, and if it wasn't for the fact that they're very docile I'd die of a heart attack if I ever saw one. Also killed an enormous wasp yesterday. I don't feel bad about it. if it would have stung it would have HURT! Cinnimon is one of those non-sugary sweet foods, so it *should* be OK. if it had sugar in it, you can bet that they'd be all over that regardless of the smell. They release pheremones that they can still use for pathfinding even in strong scents. The key is to not give them a reason to do so.

 

I am very bad with names so my dog was "dog" also. :) I confess that I loved Ser Pouncealot so much I named one of the strays we have over here after him. :)

 

Yeah, Bioware sticks too closely to their formula for their games. NWN and Kotor seemed nearly identical gameplaywise, with only maybe a slighly different graphical engine and camera angle. If you use the keyboard you can actually control the characters movement the same way. (!) their strong point has always been the story and lately that isn't quite good enough to get me to ignore the shortcomings in their games.

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Cinnamon for ants is a new one for me, too.

 

I'd rather put that in my coffee, though. :)

 

YES. Just YES.

 

Yeah, Bioware sticks too closely to their formula for their games. NWN and Kotor seemed nearly identical gameplaywise, with only maybe a slighly different graphical engine and camera angle. If you use the keyboard you can actually control the characters movement the same way. (!) their strong point has always been the story and lately that isn't quite good enough to get me to ignore the shortcomings in their games.

 

It's not actually the story, which is almost always sort of generic.."Gather the five McGuffins"/"Call the five McGuffins to arms" but the little details around the story and the use of lore, I think. And the characters, sometimes. You know you always get the Bitch, the Innocent Girl, the Tough Guy, the Stoic..etc. But some manage to end up pretty cool and unique and you get the occasional side quest that makes things interesting.

 

You know a company that went out of their comfort zone? Remedy. After Max Payne, they just moved on to Alan Wake instead of making another game about a noirish detective/cop with issues called Mat Layne. They tried a lot with the new one and you can see the work, which is a game I am deeply apologetic about, even if I can't say I adored it. It just tried and you can see that they learned things with the DLC.

Larian is another, with their more recent games. Dragon Commander seriously comes to mind, which is a completely new concept.

CD Projekt, currently working on Cyberpunk, though I will only say something about it after I play it.

 

Bioware sort of did the same thing again and again and when they stepped out of their comfort zone with DA2 and the MMO, they were being walled by EA. I'm not saying EA is the cause of the bad games...because if you actually look at their progress, their best games are ones where they were either carefully monitored or had enough time to edit their stuff again and again and again, but being forced to churn out stuff so often seriously affected their vibe. Not to mention that some of their best people left the building.

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Ants just don't like cinnamon. Why? I don't know. But we've put cinnamon sticks (and a bit of powder) around and basically cleaned the kitchen like woah, so all the ants have to choose from is the cinnamon (which they don't like) and the poisoned bait (which they probably don't like either, but they don't know that yet). I agree, though, that cinnamon is better in coffee. Or in food. We make a lot of Moroccan styled meals, which use a good amount of cinnamon in them. I love Moroccan food.

 

Still working on project. I'm getting frustrated. I'm working as hard as I can- I didn't take any dumb procrastination breaks, not really- but it's still going so slowly. I'm worried I won't hit my deadline, and I did everything right this week! I'm so annoyed. Just got to keep working and keep my fingers crossed. Maybe I should write less. Why do I write so much?

 

I just really don't see anything wrong with TOR, to be honest. Some of the story paths in it- the Agent, the Sith Warrior- is some of the best writing Bioware's done since Baldur's Gate II. The Agent path is just awesome. You get to go crazy! I mean, seriously crazy. And there's so much backstabbing and double-crossing and you can get really confused on who you serve if you're serving anybody. And you get bug-boy. You have to love bug-boy. Well, maybe you don't, but I did.

 

Honestly, though, I think Mass Effect was Bioware stepping out of their usual format (and hey, you didn't even get a Bitch till Mass Effect 2 and Miranda). Mass Effect gameplay was nothing like their other games, and it got more and more different with each game. The writing was very well done, until we end up at the Mass Effect 3 ending, in which seriously, that ending sucked and we're going to pretend the game ended with Shepard having a conversation with Anderson about being a parent and that is it. Game over. No catalyst. Screw that guy. I do sort of want to buy the latest DLC for Mass Effect 3, which seems to be you and your companions screwing around in the Citadel and I support that, but I don't want to support Mass Effect 3, because seriously, ending sucked. Suuuuuuckkked.

 

If you like IB, there's also Mad Father and the Witch's House, both other horror/puzzler games made using the same engine. I just like IB because, well, it's sweet at places and heartbreaking at other places and it at least has a bittersweet ending. The other two... well.

 

I just couldn't imagine my Warden or Hawke naming their pet 'Dog', so I tried to think of what they would name their pet. Barkspawn was a no brainer- the dog was to be the enemy of the Darkspawn, thus, Barkspawn is born to kick their butts. Barkwall is a bit more out there, because Hawke got the dog in Lothering, not in Kirkwall, but maybe they named it when they were young and listening to their mothers tales about her home. That's the explanation I go with, anyway. Really, it's just like me naming familiars. I put too much time in to it.

 

If anyone is going through a PC game of Morrowind anytime soon, Julan Ashlander Companion 2.0 has finally been released. I talked about him before in this thread- he's done by a writer who's work I very much admire, and he's a fun little companion to take along with you through the quest (my amusing moment: he thanks you for joining House Redoran because now he doesn't have to worry about you selling him for Ebony or turning him in to a mushroom). He has a full romance track for both male and female characters (there's also another character, a female who has a full romance track for both male and female characters), but he can also just service as one's BFF as you wander Vvardenfell. Of course, because of project and new kids, I'm not going to be able to play the new version for a while. Darn you, project and new kids!

 

I've gotten Lambert and Aymeri in the same clique before (Antonio would enjoy that, as he finds their rivalry with each other hysterical and is in my head-canon, constantly encouraging Aymeri to keep at it, Darn that Cobo!). It's not too hard to keep them there- they're not programmed to deliberately antagonize each other, just not to raise their relationship with each other. Zoe and Melina is harder, as Melina will go out of her way to try and stress Zoe out. I managed once to keep them in a clique till the end of the year, but it required a lot of micromanaging them and I don't think it was worth the struggle.

 

New kids... well, I deliberately designed them personality-wise so that Cat could get along with Miya, and that Cuàn could reasonably get along with Antonio (and probably Aaran), making it a possibility that you might get a gay or lesbian couple in later years if you don't peruse them... if the random dice decide to fall that way, I suppose. Miya and Antonio would constantly bicker and go through periods of just yelling at each other, but it would be pretty good natured- I wouldn't say they would be friends, but if you put them in a clique together, they might come around to being so. Louise is as usual the problem, and if you made her stick around Cat too long, there will probably be a fight. They just have opposing personalities. Cat drives Aaran up the wall, too, but he's more likely to just try hiding from her rather then fighting or anything. On the other hand, Cat and Miya would probably enjoy having gossip session after gossip session, Antonio and her would get along fine and probably happily talk about fencing and swordfighting and war, and Cat and Cuàn fight crime! Only not. Well, they're both respectable, and they could bond over not being crazy. Cuàn would probably find Miya mildly annoying, but he could live with her. The rest, I think I've gone over- Miya and Antonio annoy Louise, Louise has no idea that Aaran is even a student at the same school, and Miya and Antonio both mostly ignore Aaran who doesn't really mind it (though he and Antonio could probably have some interesting arguments on philosophy if they ever got around to it).

 

None of that is set in stone, though- none of them are programmed to not like or like any of the others. So if you managed to put all six in a clique, I would assume you'd find someway to get them all to get along. Probably by keeping Louise near Cuàn (who she could tolerate) and your character and away from the others for the most part, but hey, it could work.

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It's better to write a lot and then edit, but frustrating. I once wrote a chapter for this thing five times before actually starting properly. You ever get that scene in your head that is so perfect? Characterization, dialogue, description, plot, the works? And then..you have no idea how to go to it and from it so you write something and it ends just 'blah', so you delete everything? I hate that.

 

I would have preferred TOR to be single-player. Now, I did only play the free version but I think that with a bit a polish and more work on it, the game would have been a hit as an RPG and all the different paths. I know a lot of people who would have loved the game. It just wasn't MMO material. After finishing the main quest, did you even have a purpose? Because I tuned out and can't remember much afterwards.

 

ME was a step forward, but it still followed the same formula. I forgot that there wasn't a Bitch there, though some people would say Ashley is it. I liked Ashley in the sense that I felt she was the sane man in the ship, a lot more than Kaiden. I haven't played the game in some time, but I have a bone to pick with the guy for unknown reasons. It's the voice, man. Either way, the setting was different but much of it was pretty clichéd and I got Stargate: SG-1/Atlantis flashbacks. And while the gameplay was ..the gameplay, they were trying to cash in on the Call of Duty/Halo crowd (not my words, I think I've read one of the Bio crew say something about FPSs/TPSs and sales but can't find it now).

One example that just came to me on similarities (I'm helping a mate review Fable 2 and we just went with it) is a certain area. Remember the Rakghouls in KotOR or the cannibals in Jade Empire? It's nearly the exact staging of the Thorian Creepers in ME. That's not the only thing that comes to mind, but I thought it was fairly relevant at the time. I don't remember seeing it outside a Bio game, except perhaps in Fallout 3. And I really preferred the no-alignment thing from DA:O to the paragon/renegade, which also ended up locking you out of dialogue bits...

I heard rumours that they're pursuing an original title. I hope it works out for them better than the rest.

 

Random question: did you guys play Fable? What did you think? I loved the art style but the stories in 2 and 3 hurt my brain.

 

Bookmarked mod. I really need a day off or something to play through this and the horror games.

 

I will probably add all six in a clique and make them bond. It should form cool stories. Conflicting personalities usually do, or so does my extended experience in RPGs. Found names for the familiars yet?

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I'm just... okay, this project is something important. I can't really talk about it, but it's important and it's a chance I've long wanted. And yet I suck at it. I take so much longer then the amount I should be taking, and I'm starting to really panic about once again having to ask for an extension when I've already done it like, three times on different parts. I think I might be writing too much, but I feel like I need the words to explain stuff and arggghhh, why has the day passed so fast? It's already five o'clock and nothing is done and it drives me nuts.

 

I get scenes in my head that are perfect all the time, but then find myself completely unable to write them. ;_; That's the reason I haven't touched my main writing document in months. I have over 1000 pages written, but I just can't figure out how to do the next scene. Though part of that has been being busy with other stuff. I just haven't had the time to do much personal writing anymore. I blame work.

 

There was a purpose after you finished the main quest path in TOR, same as in every MMO... PVPing and Raiding. The raids are fun, but you always end up in raids with people who are all 'spacebar through everything everyone's already seen the story geez' and people who vote-kick you if you admit to not knowing the details of the raid or if it's your first time. So it's really hard to get in to the raid scene. I spent all my time PVPing, but there's the same whining and temper-tantrums over there, too. Honestly, I think the best thing to do when you finish one classes's story is to create a different class and do their story, too. Like I did Agent and then did Smuggler then went back to Sith Warrior... I don't know. I don't think it's a bad MMO: a Star Wars MMO is actually doing very well, and we could use more non-fantasy MMOs. I just think a lot of people were looking for KOTOR3, even though Lucas Arts said they never planned for it, and take it out on TOR that it isn't the KOTOR3 they wanted... even though it's not the MMOs fault. The Revan novel closed off any avenues KOTOR3 could take, anyway.

 

What class did you play in the free version? What level did you get to?

 

Kaidan was so much more sane then Ashley. There I have to completely disagree with you. He was much calmer then her, didn't whine like she did, was most importantly not racist like her, followed orders more appropriately, and didn't flip out when you made mistakes or did stuff he disagreed with as much. (Just compare the confrontation with Kaiden in ME2 to the confrontation with Ashley when they find out you're working for you-know-who.) I liked Ash, but she's deeply flawed. Kaidan is basically unflawed- guy had a background twice as screwed up as Ash's or really anyone on the ship but maybe Liara, but never whined about it. He was almost too good to be true. I really don't get why guys dislike him- I can only guess it's the fact that he has the same voice actor as Carth, and guys really hated Carth (of course, a lot of girls did too).

 

Ash was difficult and racist, though, but I don't think she was the bitch. And Liara and Tali certainly weren't- Liara's the Innocent Girl, while Tali's the Kid Sister.

 

Fable... well, I couldn't play Fable 1 because I got annoyed at forced save points... if I'm not in battle, I should be able to save. Fable 2, I don't own an Xbox or whatever console it came out on. Fable 3... um... I sort of liked shooting stuff around. But then I just played Kingdom of A-something Reckoning, and there I had *chakrums* to shoot around like a crazy person, so I liked that much better. Fable 3's story sucked, and the stupid emote winning people over thing feels juvenile to me. So the only thing I really enjoyed was the occasional combat section, and Kingdom of whatever it is Reckoning has better combat (though the story sucked). Chakrums!

 

IB is a short game, so it shouldn't take you long to play it. Especially as you're likely to get one of the 'ends 3/4ths the way through' endings the first time you play unless you use some sort of strategy guide. >.>

 

I'll probably make a Hedi student and try and get all six in my clique, too, and then I'll name them something stupid and we'll have 'one student of every house!' parties. And there will be cake. Then I'll play the game every other time pretending they don't exist because I think my writing for them is horrible and can't stand it anymore, which is doomed to happen. I always hate my own work after viewing it a few times.

 

At this current moment, for instance, I am absolutely hating Antonio. Antonio, you suck. His personal adventure is so dumb why did I use it arghhh. ...I sort of wish they were released already, just so I could see if people think they're good or bad. On the other hand, I hope they're delayed another two months, because then maybe I could get Cuàn and Cat in. I don't know where the team is on the writing/testing bar at the moment.

 

I think Wolfie is going to be Corey- dweller in the hollows, and it also works because I haven't decided if Wolfie is male or female yet and that's a name that works for both genders. As for Ferretface, I'm thinking either Ermete or Eulalia, depending on if it's a boy or girl. I've decided the familiars will be opposite genders, but I haven't decided which is which. I'm leaning slightly towards the wolf being female, though, as it has an almost motherly relationship with Cuàn, so it would probably work better as a female wolf. I don't know. Not certain.

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All I can say is the usual, I suppose. Get your inspiration from wherever you think works best. Sometimes it's best to stop, sit down with absolutely nothing to do and no sounds around, get a glass of wine and collect your thoughts.

 

I think Obsi was thinking of KotOR3? They want to do another Star Wars game but with the move to Disney, I don't know. Either way, it's gone.

I played Sith Inquisitor, and I can't remember the level, which is odd because I can remember the level for the Witcher or NWN1 playthroughs even if they were some time back.

 

Kaiden was...well just a bit too mellow. Does that sound right? He was just..'meh' towards a lot of stuff. I don't think I hate the voice actor specifically. I only know him as Carth, Kaiden and Jimini Cricket from Once Upon a Time. In all of them he is so...calm! And there are moments were I think Ashley reacted better simply because she flipped out. Because I would have definitely punched someone. Maybe he was too good to be true. And that was ...strange.

 

I played through all of the Fables and while 1 was playable for me with a casual story that didn't try too hard, the rest were murder. Kingdom of Amalur. Yes, it was better. The reason I'm asking is because I was sort of debating sudden characters that were so much more hated than the real villain. And I hated Reaver like that. He was a forced 'party member' in 2. Just...serious will to kill him. Liked your brother in 3. Thought he was a very bad accountant though. Very bad. So many years of oppression and so little cash. I was already rich and bathing into my own gold room.

 

I hate my own work too. I think it's the whole self-criticism thing. I just write, dump it for a few days and go back to it. If it's hopeless, I just rewrite. If not, I edit. I'd wait for us to play though :P

 

The names sound interesting. And yeah, Corey does work both ways.

 

Why Ermete? I'm not sure on Eulalia (I know she was a saint) but isn't Ermete simply Hermes? At least what I knew of it outside of the Hellenistic plays. I want that ferret now...

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I didn't even play the free version of TOR. Just read the story since I knew I was never going to play it as it's an MMO.

 

Mass effect was still following the same formula.

 


  •  
  • Do opening schpeil.
  • Go to 3-4 Different places seeking the plot coupons.
  • Do the ending schpeil.

 

Yeah they varied it more, and I appreciate greatly that the main character was voiced,(Go femshep! Jennifer Hale ROCKS!) but all in all....

 

I own and loved the first fable. Although I only played it with the expansion, which changed some things from the version without. My only beef with it was that the main character, (and only the main character) aged. I played 2 a bit and didn't care for it much.

 

Fable 3 was interesting and though the story was good, I'm too much of a goody two shoes and EVERYONE died cuz I was too lazy to have my cake and eat it too (be morally right AND work your butt off for the cash). I never played it again to see the difference, but I can guess well enough. I'd like to see a proper conclusion to the series story though because it seems more like they're just milking it out now. The one thing that irked me is that you really weren't given a lot of power as king to change the country. The one "evil" choice I made was the whorehouse one.... And though my opinion of that sort of thing is different than most people's, I still wouldn't have chosen that but I had no choice as I sure as hell wasn't going to waste money on schools when the people were going to die anyway. There weren't anywhere near as many options for me to make me feel empowered. I was railroaded onto a moral black/white system when I prefer the grey. It also irked me that quite a few of the "contracts" very well could have likely been negotiated to not cost you a damn thing in the short run. Those mountain people whom you promised their land back? Tell them the situation. They're your friends! I'm sure a deal could have been worked out to give them the land back later, or at least in portions over time. but NOOOO!!! But instead of that we got the option to make the decisions in a chicken suit. *facepalm*

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Well, I got an extension. So I have till next Saturday. I should get it done. Well, I have to get it done, because I certainly can't ask for another extension... but yeah, I should get it done. As for me, I'm at the point where I'm considering straight vodka shots for inspiration as I can't find my wine bottle opener (need to borrow mom's). Of course, it's not straight vodka because it tastes like marshmallows. Seriously, who's idea was it to make marshmallow vodka and why are they so awesome? That allows them to make cheap vodka that still tastes good. Which is good, because I can't afford expensive vodka.

 

I'm babbling. Today is just one of those days that's really not good, but you have to bare with it anyway.

 

I thought Obsi said they had no plans for another Star Wars game, with the soft reason of because working with LucasArts was a pain in the ass for them and KOTOR II had such a bad reputation. I know you played it with the finished mod, but that mod took four or so years to come out. KOTOR II was blasted and hated for having no ending, and not many people are going to go back four years later to play with a mod what should have been in the original game in the first place. KOTOR II got Obsidian a really bad reputation they couldn't shake for a while.

 

Sith Inquisitor was sort of fun. "Is that you, my morose monster?" I played mine full dark side. The solution to every problem in dialog is force lightning, I swear. I imagine she and Khem Val going around wrecking the world. On the other hand, my Sith Warrior was played more like a noble demon, going almost full light side (but *snarky* light side). My Agent took a grey path, doing what she thought was best for the Empire, be it light or dark. Save for her brief period of rebellion when she did what was best for her, dark or light, when she got totally pissed at the Empire for a while. If there was any storyline where it made sense to start off as an Empire loyalist and then half-way through go "Ef you all, I'm out for myself now", it was the agent. Haven't decided what morality my Bounty Hunter will be...

 

Kaiden was just an all around decent guy who was basically faultless. About the worst thing you can say about him is he's too easy manipulated- a female Shepard can convince him to turn in to an alien hater worse then Ashley, if she so desires (then you'll have a Kaiden who urges you to kill the Rachnai even over Wrex, meaning if you take Kaiden and Wrex to that specific point, Wrex is the one who gives the paragon viewpoint of 'noo, don't kill' which is always amusing). I couldn't do that to Kaiden, though. I think he's perfectly nice the way he is, and he's seriously always respectful of Shepard rather then throwing tantrums or acting like an idiot, unlike some love interests in those games. Even when you're on opposite sides in ME3, he still treats you with respect, unlike Ashley who is a bit more... RAWRGH in your face.

 

Fable 3, I bought a ton of houses and stuff, so I had money rolling in. I basically just bribed my way to happiness and freedom for everyone. I actually thought that made the game a bit dumb, though- it's all like "HARD CHOICES! Save for if you have cash, which is incredibly easy and effortless to make in this game." (You really don't have to work your butt off. Just buy property.) I don't know. I didn't care much for Fable 3, in general. I'd rather play Kingdoms of Amalur and throw around my chakrums some more. Chakrums are awesome. Everyone should have chakrums.

 

ME3 was pretty different then the usual Bioware formula, I thought. ME2 wasn't exactly the same, because you didn't actually really have to collect people save for the first few or do loyalty missions. You could do other missions, and still trigger the plot missions.

 

I always hate my own work. I regret what I've done the minute I'm done with it, to be honest. Part of it is that I'm a perfectionist, and I'm always recognizing that I could have done something better or that I got lazy at a certain point. I'm really unsure about the new students, as I said- I'm honestly unsure how they fit in or even if they do fit in. I feel like I can't even say I did my best, because there is always something I could have done better, you know? But I probably shouldn't be trashing the work I want everyone to enjoy. It's um, great! Yeah! Trust me! ....;;;

 

Honestly, I wanted gods or saints names for Ferretface, as Cat's need to name things tends towards the extreme- currently, she calls her clique the Honored Few, and seriously, how stuck-up is that? So she would only name her familiar something 'regal' and 'mature' and Hermes makes a good inspiration for what the Ferret is actually good at rather then what she wishes the Ferret was good at.

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Oh, congrats. Here's to inspiration. Wine actually helps me better than spirits. Marshmallow vodka? Never tried. I once had orange one, but I prefer it straight and dry.

 

I don't remember the news, it was a couple of months back and I remember it because I thought that with South Park and Project Eternity and everything, another game is a bad idea. But yes, the possibility of a Star Wars game had been talked about. I played about a year and a half after release. A friend did the whole reconstruction, he didn't play or make that particular mod and only did it because he wanted to redo the whole games with textures, models, etc. The thing is, I don't think it had THAT bad a reputation. Yes, the ending was a bit left to the wind but a lot of people prefer it to the first, simply because it's a lot more interesting and better made. Their rep in general is very good games with bad QA and not enough time to finish everything. My hat is off to them for learning a new engine every time they make a game because I know from experience that it's not easy.

 

Playing Sith was fun. Of course, I had to resume to being human and had a lot of restrictions from play, which were more irritating than appealing at me to buy. I was dark for the whole way. Then again, that's how I play most games.

 

In Fable 3, I played an accountant. Damn them and their monsters, I want to spend my money on a house, then up the rent, buy another house, up the rent..etc..I was playing Real Estate Tycoon. By the end of the game, I could barely walk around my endless pile of money.

 

I think Bio got caught in the Peter Molyneux effect. I was just reading an interview (on Rock Paper Shotgun) in which they start setting unrealistic expectations and start saying, "well our last game had problems but NOW WE'RE CHANGING-" which was cute on Molyneux but not so much on a franchise that had a bit more time to refine their RPGs. I mean, outside of their very first game, that's all they did. You'd think they'd have the formula. He also addressed archetypes and that it's not wrong to follow them. In my opinion, it is if you're using them for every single game...

 

The games that step away from their comfort zones, ME3 and DA2 were both full of fan outrage. So...that's not a good sign. Of course, ME3's end was more controversial than the rest of the game but the end result is sort of undisputable.

 

You're a lot harsher on your work than we might be. And seeing what I saw, I think the guys will fit. I can't wait to play Aaran's adventure.

 

Ermete is also the creator of hermeticism, so that is a very special ferret. You could give it the name of an in-universe god or royal. Of course, another Durand would make it confusing, but depending on preference, there has to be one Saint she likes more than others.

I never have any idea of what I'll name my clique so any name is good...but yeah, stuck up. What are the rest of the clique names?

 

Happy Easter to those who celebrate it today. And to those who do not, have a lovely Sunday.

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I'm sorry, I'm in the middle of something else, so I might be a bit short. Or I might ramble on forever. It depends.

 

Insectside person came and sprayed at ants today, so that's something. Hopefully that means the ants will get the hell out of my kitchen and stay outside where they belong because I am seriously sick of them.

 

Honestly, I'm one of those drinkers who will drink almost anything, except for beer. I've tried many kinds of beer, but I only ever liked one, and it was pumpkin flavored which everyone said was weird and then the people making it went out of business. But vodka? I'm good with vodka. I like vodka mixed drinks, and in my days when I used to be irresponsible and crazy, I used to do vodka shots all the time. Now I just enjoy sipping different flavors of vodka, and, okay, using them in mixed drinks. This marshmallow one is really nice (and did I mention cheap? seriously, cheap). I don't think I'd like orange, though... I rarely like things that are flavored orangey.

 

I wish the Academagia kids were a bit older so I could sit around figuring what sort of things they would drink. Maybe by fifth year. I imagine the drinking age in Academagia is much younger then 21, if it exists at all.

 

Dark Sith Inquisitor is the way to go, unless you want to romance that stupid girl you get. But why would you want to romance that stupid girl you get? She might be the most annoying romance option in the game. The guy is fine enough- space pirate, space pirates are cool. But she's like... 'I'm a Jedi! Who is traveling with the Sith! But I'm a Jedi, really! But I fell! Or not! Wait, let's debate why the Jedi code is totally right again. I'm your apprentice, Master Sith! But I'm still a Jedi. Teehee!' I just couldn't put up with her nonsense. Too bad I couldn't let her ancestor kill her.

 

...I am a horrible jerk when playing Dark Side characters.

 

The thing about ME3 is sort of interesting, in that it got great reviews from the industry and was generally considered an excellent game... up until the ending. Really, there was a ton of care put in that game, and I would gladly play the majority of it for fun again with no complaints. It was a good game! ...And then suddenly the ending. The ending. I know the Extended Cut makes it slightly better, but it's like... well, sort of the case of KOTORII. The game is already basically ruined for me from that first playthrough. At least this time, Bioware fixed it up rather then Obsidian depending on modders to fix their mistakes, but... it's already blemished.

 

I think Miya and Antonio (even though Antonio's adventure sucks and needs to die slowly) will fit well enough in the game. I'm a bit more worried on how Aaran and Louise will do. Neither of them are exactly standard, so... I just hope they're accepted okay.

 

With the Ferret, I want to make the point that the Ferret is an awesome, good, smart, decent familiar... who unfortunately finds itself troubled, because no matter what it does, it simply isn't what Cat wants. Cat wants a noble steed, a ferocious war hound, a fierce bird of prey... she doesn't want a mere ferret. And it sucks, because Ferret loves Cat unconditionally and really does all it can to be what Cat wants, but it's species works against it. It's a troubled relationship. I have no idea what ability Ferret will offer her... hm.

 

Clique names? I haven't decided what Cuàn will call his, but I don't think it will matter, as I'm not sure if Cuàn will even have add friendship in his tables. Aaran's also very unlikely to start a clique, but if he does, he calls them the Lost, because he is depressing like that. Antonio goes with the Academagia Mercenaries, because for all his good points, great originality and creativity is not one of them. Louise uses the Hawk's Talons. I don't remember what Miya calls her cliques at the moment.

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Well to be fair to obsidian, it was Lucasarts who refused to let them patch KotOR2. Obsidian was also pushed for the holiday release.

 

You know, the more I think about it, the more today's situation resembles the 80's before the video game crash. ET was pushed hard for the same reason, and the Atari Pacman version was a prototype "concept game" that the execs decided shove to market despite the programmer's objections as such.

 

And Let's not forget the multiple consoles with the exact same game! We've got those too!

 

what's the picture caption here?

 

I still remember the differences between tthe different ME3 versions. None unless you preordered. Then you might have had a gun. It's not as bad as the 80's yet but people are definitely forgeting those lessons thanks to greed.

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I drink everything except beer and fruity stuff. That includes cocktails, flavored vodka and punch. It doesn't include orange and gin/vodka, jello shots, vodka gummy bears or alcoholised sour cherries. My favourite drink would be scotch or dry red wine. I've also drank absinthe - my younger self spent the nights in bars despite age restrictions - and very nearly choked on it. It's a drink you should get eased into.

 

We can still guess, I suspect, and then compare to what their older selves would drink. I'm guessing Carmine is a single malt kind of dude. Most of Godina would be beer. Except for Silke - she'll probably get something colourful like a Cosmo. Reitz is also a scotch dude, but less smoky. He secretly enjoys Bailey's. And Avila doesn't drink.

 

Glad the ants are dying. Or at least leaving your kitchen.

 

Yeah, it was LucasArt wasn't it? They messed with Obsi and the game quite I lot from what I remember. Sort of like Activision and Vamps....but at least they patched the game. Comparing the game industry with the crash of the '80s is an interesting view. Not sure if applicable now considering how much of a shit storm it would result in.

AAA games are still a budding industry, more in its teenage years than nothing else and still trying to find its centre. Movies had the benefit of theatre beforehand and neither that or books translate that well into games. I think it's turned too much into an industry and really quite early. Millions of dollars into a single game and having to sell to millions of people to get it back is unrealistic. I can understand EA and Activision and Ubisoft in some form...but they are really pushing people's buttons.

 

Non-standard is good. I don't think you have reason to worry about Aaran. Louise should be interesting to see, considering the fact that she's so unhappy everywhere. I'm curious about her adventure since it adds depth, but so far with the characters I've played, none are into the misanthropic cliques. I might make a character particularly for her and they could hate Academagia together.

 

That sounds like a sad familiar story for Cat. Will they get closer in later years? I always pity the familiars that get left behind. I never do the adventures either.

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I can take fruity stuff, to some extent. Before I was 21, I used to order virgin strawberry daiquiris (...is that how do you spell that?) when everyone around me was drinking. I don't like rum drinks as much as I like vodka, gin, or tequila ones though. I can take scotch and absinthe okay. Personally, I like fortified wines- port and sherry. They're supposed to be men's drinks, but I don't really care about that. Honestly, I take a bit of pride that I can outdrink all of the guys in my personal friend circle. ^^ I have the highest alcohol tolerance of all my friends, despite being the shortest and the lightest (I'm not even five feet). Of course, when I was younger, that just meant I did stupider stuff. Like that New Years when I drank two bottles of champagne and a half a bottle of some fruity blush thing basically alone. That was... bad. And... I really wasn't that much younger.

 

Silke I imagine like fruity things, but they'd have to be colorful and decorated with flowers and little umbrellas and the like. I'm not sure Katja would be a drinker. If she did, I imagine she'd go for drinks very light on alcohol content. Mixed drinks that use a lot of juices and not too much alcohol. On the other hand, I could see Honors going for heavy drinking for inspiration. Not sure she actually would, but I could see it.

 

I wonder if there's tequila in Academagia, because there's no real equivalent of the 'new world' that I'm aware of. Remind me to ask the Legate that one of these days.

 

I can do my own kids, at least. Louise would stick to vodka, and I can imagine she could go all James Bond-ish on martinis (but none of that flavored 'girly' stuff, of course). Antonio doesn't like beer, and feels disappointed in himself because of that, because everyone expects mercenaries to drink beer- he'd probably be more in to wine himself. Would sherry still come from Monteon? Hm. Cat would be a beer drinker, but she'd be something of a beer snob. Nothing to hoppy, thanks. Cuàn would stick mostly to whiskey, but I doubt he'd be too picky if someone else was paying. Aaran would not be picky at all, but he'd be horrible to go out drinking with, as one drink would be enough to get him arguing philosophy with street signs drunk. Miya would tell you that her favorite drink is sake or shoju, but honestly, while her family probably does smuggle some, I doubt she'd ever actually gotten a chance to drink it. Instead, she'd stick to fruity stuff that tastes more like juice then alcohol.

 

I was actually talking to one of my friend's on Easter that the industry was remaking some of it's mistakes from the eighties, so it's interesting that you brought that up now, freespace. Still, I think there's a slight difference... with consoles costing so much more, making a game exclusive to one console doesn't make people go out and buy that console, it just makes them mad. People hate games exclusive to consoles they don't own, and many people just own one console (or a PC and a console). And AAA games... particularly MMOs... can still make a lot of money. The MMO industry is insane, and more and more companies are trying to get in to it in some way... and more and more people are playing MMOs, as they become more dumbed down for casual users. As long as people keep demanding AAA games with millions put in to them, developers will keep making them. And for some developers, it's going quite well. From what I heard, for all people complain that there are too many versions of the Sims, Bioware's games are dumbed down, and the sports games are just the same thing every year, EA is still doing great, money-wise.

 

...I kind of want to buy the latest SimCity... but project and new kids come first. Maybe this summer. (Stupid project and new kids, taking me away from video games that cost entirely too much...)

 

Remember when the Infinity Engine games came out and you got them for like, 30 dollars? Sigh. Those were the days.

 

I hope that Cat will become closer to her familiar in later years, because it is a somewhat sad story, isn't it? But I don't know. That probably will depend on whether FirstName inserts themselves in to her life and helps her appreciate what she has, I think.

 

(I can't do Giars's adventure, myself. Poor bunny... left behind for a plant. A plant. Then there's Llarina, too, right? I can't remember if Irene actually replaces her familiar or just borrows a muffler for a while atm. Still, all depressing.)

 

That leads to the question... I know you guys haven't seen them even in year one yet, but what sort of things do you want to see from the kids in year two? I'm trying to come up with ideas. Hm.

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Mikka? Mikka! MIKKA!

 

Why would you want to buy the latest Simcity? Didn't you see all those reports on the problems of the game? Online DRM?

 

For Year 2, I would like to see the people they would stick with. Kind of like their best friends and what do they do with them instead of the RNG choosing whichever npc is free at the moment.

 

Also how would all your kids (fictional or other-wise) deal with a person like Girars? His pushiness could cause a lot of conflict. wink.gif

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But but but Leoshi! It's Simcity! I can deal with the game forcing me to be online all the time while EA spies on me if it's for Simcity! They're always spying on me whenever I try to play the Sims or Mass Effect or Dragon Age, anyway. Might as well just let them keep doing it, at the rate they're going. All they're going to find out is I read manga instead of working somedays... >.>

 

No, I understand what you're saying. I hate Online DRM. I even have trouble with Steam and usually play in offline mode just because I see no reason why I should have to be online to play single player games. But Simcity is a very special game to me... I grew up watching my uncle play that and Civilization on the computer. We used to bond over them as I'd watch and ask questions... it's how I learned to be good at such games myself. So I really want Simcity. I have such fond memories of the earlier games in the series. So much that I'll deal with EA's latest plot to spy on me cruely to play it.

 

Year 2 friendships, huh? I think I can do something with that. Hm...

 

Ah, Girars. He thinks Antonio doesn't feed his cat enough, Aaran doesn't exercise his dog enough, Louise is teaching her hawk to be cruel against the hawk's nature, Miya is teaching her fox to be a thief against the fox's nature, and Cat doesn't appreciate her ferret enough (he at least thinks Cuàn is doing a passable job with his wolf). As you can imagine, that doesn't make them like him. Antonio is constantly fuming about Girars giving his cat extra meals, and is the one most irritated by Girars method of pushiness. The rest just put up with it, for the most part. Miya has her fox steal from Girars in revenge, Aaran offers to let Girars take Tepte for a walk if he cares so much, and Cat and Louise basically ignore him. It's not the pushiness so much as the 'I know more about animals then you do and I care more about animals then you do so there' attitude that gets to them, I think.

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sigh.gif

 

I grew up playing The Sims 1 (with music that wouldn't be out of place in Scheherazade) over at my grandmother's house so I know my you mean too. Just try to get the most out of that game understand?! I just don't know how Maxis could have fallen so far in terms of quality.

 

And more "How would Mikka's kids react" here!

 

1) Ms. Shouty, Els!

 

2) Ms. Gossipy. Grainne!

3) Mr. Bad Jokes! Jere! "So, how about that Airship food? Ba dum-tish!"

What are the chances of your kids making friends with people like these?

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