Badfinger

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Posts posted by Badfinger

  1. Posted

    This is completely incorrect. The next generation of Intel processors is called Haswell and runs on a completely different socket and chipset that Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge. Ivy Bridge is certainly better than Sandy Bridge in some ways (graphics, power consumption) as I mentioned, but there is no "opportunity to improve your CPU down the road without scrapping the whole thing" if you buy Ivy Bridge.

    Sandy Bridge is the tick, Ivy Bridge is the tock. I understand that. There is an opportunity to upgrade your CPU with ivy bridge where there isn't with sandy bridge because no one's making new sandy bridge cpus anymore.

  2. Posted

    Although, again, you should buy what's best for you to get RIGHT NOW, if you buy Ivy Bridge you may have the opportunity to improve your CPU down the road without scrapping the whole thing. There aren't going to be any more changes to Sandy Bridge. Ivy Bridge is the evolution of the Sandy Bridge architecture.

    If it makes sense and is affordable, Ivy Bridge is the newer and stronger choice. Sandy Bridge is not bad by any means but it's the old platform.

  3. Posted

    I do know what you're talking about, they killed me the first time through that area as well. You can definitely incapacitate them without killing them (sleep darts). I'm not sure how their aggression affects your alert status though.

    e: I only had to deal with 2 of them, funny enough.

  5. Posted

    I agree exactly. Perhaps with the exception of SC2 (although maybe not) I view e-sports in a similar way as "real" sports, such as tennis, squash, boxing, etc. There's very little strategy in those games... most of it is down to perfecting physical skills, and knowing which shots to make when,and understanding your opponents strengths and weaknesses.

    A great deal of most sports is strategy, which translates to tactics. Certainly there is a physical prowess needed to be able to hit a shot to the baseline in tennis consistently, but building up and breaking down certain opponents' tendencies is something that you plan, then execute, then revise constantly as the match goes on. I don't know if you're a football fan, but football offense is ENTIRELY concepts. Even if you don't care about football, if you are interested in strategy www.smartfootball.com is a wonderful games strategy website, it just happens to be about pigskin.

    If it were well made and executed, Shopping Strategy '12 could be an awesome game. I definitely have a plan for when I go to the supermarket.

    As a person who IS into League of Legends and could in fact follow what the podcast was about, I was interested but also somewhat disappointed that the discussion focused nearly exclusively on the S2 finals, and the final matches themselves. Picks/bans was interesting discussion fodder, but I also felt like there were missed opportunities to actually describe the jungle, what the differences were between S1 and S2 and why jungling strategies changes, and what a rework means for the game as a whole.

    I also thought that there was no discussion of Riot's marketing of the players was a missed opportunity. How do you appeal to the casual market and make sure they know professional gaming exists? Tell them about it! Riot has two splash screens with posts and information and is constantly willing to put out info on what's going on in the community AND to market the players. There are professional gamer spotlights on the client that are both little glimpses into how they play certain characters, and also who they are as people. Do you like Scarra? Yay you can watch a match and root for Scarra. Do you think he's a jerk? Boo Scarra, go other team.

    And there was no real discussion of the ultra-casual. There IS a level Riot has to appeal to where the meta-game that coalesces at even the basic 1000 elo level simply doesn't exist. My father plays League of Legends. He is in his (early) 60s. He plays about 5 characters. If one of the ones he was going to take top/bottom lane is taken, he'll pick another one... and end up in that lane anyway. He's played some pvp. He's 50/50, even (matching system works!). But he also found some guys who play intermediate bot matches, and damned if he doesn't play organized PvE 5 man bot matches. This is a guy who plays Civ, plays XCOM, all the Total War games. I am pretty sure he was talking to me about playing Master of Magic within the last week. But from what I can tell, he plays more League of Legends than anything else. And while he grasps the game, he's bad at it. He's bad! And who cares. If he has more kills than deaths and they all beat the bots and everyone gets honor, that was a GREAT game.

    It would have been nice to see more broad concepts, and the panel tended to end up discussing specific tactics, or even specific players or moments when a general discussion would have probably served the audience better.

    Holy shit I wrote a lot of words.

  6. Posted

    That's a cool idea. I like it! But Morrowind isn't linear and level based. Once you do something like that, it stops being the game they were making at some point. Constraints/restraint are not inherently bad. They're often good! I'm ok with the game being a linear systems-explosion playground. Maybe a quick vignette about the dissolution of the conspiracy would have added some depth? The story is very bland, but I was quite taken with the characters and the world. I think it speaks to the strength of the game that people really DO want there to be more to the story and the world even just in the tiny part of it you're living.

    I guess I'm perfectly fine with the game being over, but I do agree there could be more to be done than just a flat GAME OVER screen. Even "the conspiracy has dissolved due to your actions!" is fine by me. Bearing in mind I was so mindful of this stuff during my first (only, currently) playthrough that I didn't do any of that stuff that would cause those screens so I can only speak second hand.

  7. Posted

    I have no problem with the Dishonored Game Over screen for killing a "friendly" target. Nothing is taboo. You can kill or not kill literally everyone in the game except Emily. You can talk to all of them, or riffle through all their belongings and journals, or you can leave it alone. I felt like everything in the game could pique my interest, and it pushes you to think about what you can or can't do. You CAN kill the school teacher, but she's critical to the loyalist's success. If you kill her, the rebellion dissolves and it's over. You, Corvo, are critical to the loyalist's success. If you walk off a bridge and hit the rocks below, you're dead. The rebellion dissolves and it's over. We just treat it differently because GAME OVER is what you're used to when the person you're playing in your first person perspective dies. You know, because Video Games.

  8. Posted

    You absolutely, absolutely need to read this: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3458091

    You should be able to see all of it even if you're not a member. It has links, as above, to Tom's Hardware, anandtech, pc parts picker, newegg links abound. It is a constantly updated database that is diligently kept up by the maker of the thread (The first 4 posts were all updated this month). The second post, in particular, is a godsend to picking parts.

    I love my SSD. A small-capacity SSD and a larger platter drive work great. Steam Tool allows you to ferry games back and forth from them easily for what you're playing this month. The only specific advice I can offer is do not get an OCZ-brand SSD.

  9. Posted

    Well, I haven't played it, but it seems kind of lame.

    I'm all for the idea of short, specific scenarios (AKA "challenges") in a game like this. Another example might be Civ scenarios, I guess. Unfortunately, more often than not, they fall flat and leave me wanting. When they work, they work well, but when they don't...

    Agreed, I don't think EVERYTHING in the new XCOM game has to drop right into the overarching single player structure. I think you could have sub-games that are just tactics/challenges. Listening to the Giant Bombcast today, one of them suggested he'd love a Horde Mode-type scenario where you pick 6 soldiers and the game keeps throwing enemies at you until you're dead. I think there are multiple ways that could be an awesome little side mode. I think you could have an all strategic game mode. The game is robust enough it can be segmented out and be a complete experience.

    In theory XCOM multiplayer seems like a neat idea, but in practice it's a really neat idea that actually works! It's gratifying that that piece of the game is genuinely satisfying.

  11. Posted

    The "-or" versus "-our" suffix business is more complicated than "the Americans fucked it up," but it's fun to moan about it, so I'm sure it will never die and people will never shut up.* The "-or" suffix was used in words with Latin roots, "-our" with words coming more recently from French. At one point England standardized on "-our," which I think was admittedly before the colonies existed, but it was in flux for a long-ass time, at least through the 17th century, which puts it only around a generation behind the founding of America. The "-our" suffix was always in deference to/in honor of French word roots though, so it irks the shit out of me when it is decided that "-our" spellings are the Proper British Ways.

    Anyway Dishonored.

    * See also: "Soccer," a word invented by Brits, but forever blamed on Americans (by Brits).

    Before I got to the end of your post I was also going to mention "soccer", which I have learned is one hell of a mangled word.

  12. Posted

    GOD DAMMIT. I have clearly been getting better rolls than other people have. I've been incredibly fortunate (and cautious), and outside of the tutorial I had only lost one solider and none that weren't rookies. I had carapace armor, light plasma rifles, and lasers all around for everyone else. I decided to assault the first alien base, and right away I start taking damage and know it's going to go bad. I clear 2 mutons and 3 floaters by the skin of my teeth, with one of my heavies busted up and my support's life literally resting on her own shoulders, as she was exposed, down to one health, and the only one with a shot left before the remaining muton got to clean her up. We survive, and move on. My snipers are in great shape, with plenty of high ground to lay waste every turn. Then All Day Dieter uncovers 3 chryssalids, and ducks for cover, but I've run up too far. One attack doesn't kill her, but the second does and my support is down. The only saving grace is they all rushed her, and they all get put down with a single rocket.

    The rest of the base is explored without incident, except the goddamn commander. I had a chance to finish it off without taking losses, and couldn't get more than 5 damage out of a 100% to hit headshot chance from my Col. sniper. My assault gets mind controlled, and blows my injured heavy's brains out. I am actually mad and frustrated right now and had to tell SOMEONE, even the uncaring, bored with only losing two soldiers internet, because far from everyone missing - everyone DID their jobs, and we still left with my most experienced soldier and first to reach colonel in a bag. I actually said "Hey, where's Guzman?" before deploying the next mission because he'd never missed one. RIP Dozer and Cpt. Yuan.

  13. Posted

    "Ghost" is a technical term of art, not a particularly apt description. Read and be enlightened.

    While I suppose I understand your point more completely, I don't think using the word "ghost" for a game of similar lineage means it should be beholden or even comparable to rules like that whether its use was coincidental in Dishonored or not. That sure does sound completely insane though!

    Still going to petition for a Ghost Dad achievement run.

  14. Posted

    Okay, I actually hadn't looked at what the achievement required, but if that's their ghost achievement then it's not really a "ghost" achievement. "Ghost" is stringent enough to require, like, closing any doors you open. Choking someone out is a huge no-no, unless they were already choking on a pretzel or something, in which case it's probably okay to speed the process up a bit as long as you don't leave any marks on the body.

    I actually did close doors behind me. Both out of paranoia at alerting someone, and also because it seemed like the right thing to do.

    Also you have a very weird definition of what "ghost" means. To me (and the game), it means don't let anyone know you're doing anything while you're doing it. Why would you need to keep up the illusion after you're gone? Sleepy guards never know what hit 'em. It's ghostly, not ethereal.

    Unless you're joking and I can't tell. In which case there should be a second level of achievement above the "ghost" run known as the "ghost dad" run.

  17. Posted

    I think I read way further into the body count chaos than the game expects you to. More kills for me didn't mean more DEAD bodies spreading plague (although it does mean that to some degree), it means less LIVE bodies to combat the plague. The places you visit don't stop existing after you leave them. The patrols are going to be remanned even if you kill everyone. Someone has to clean up the bodies you do leave behind. Those guards have to come from somewhere, which could be pulled guarding a checkpoint from weepers, cleanup crew, rescue efforts (if they exist) etc. Essentially your chaos is stretching the infrastructure of the city, rather than adding more corpses on the pile.

  20. Posted

    Really? I love Piero. But then, I already loved Brad Dourif, so maybe I just gave him a pass automatically.

    I think the voice acting is fine all around. Not much of it jumps out at you, but that's OK… it's a lot better than being taken out of it by bad acting. For a while, I thought all the Carrie Fisher characters were voiced by Carol Burnett. She totally sounds like her now!

    The character is supposed to be completely fascinated with the natural world around him, and he has fears and hopes and frustrations and grudges. The weird voyeur scientist should maybe be the most interesting character of any of them, but his voice is just this slow, whiny drawl with no urgency or energy in it in the same dead flat delivery every single line.

    Anything

    I

    can

    do

    to

    help

    you,

    Corvo...

    I want Piero on fast forward. Inject some processed whale oil right into his veins or something.

  21. Posted

    RE: nakedness in games, I thought dishonored had an interesting little vignette partway through that dealt with the characters as actual people thrown together in one house dealing with their cooped up living conditions. I'd be interested in impressions on that if had an effect on anyone who's experienced it.

  23. Posted

    I thought it was interesting that Corvo isn't a silent protagonist, he just doesn't have spoken dialogue. I also found myself much more affected by the world and allowed the game decisions I made fit into it than some other people did it seems. What if you choose to take the non-lethal objective on the Golden Cat just because you have sympathy for the character that asked you to do it? You're clearly close with Emily, and that affected how I wanted her to see me compared to the rest of the world, etc.

    I was also a little surprised with the plot "twist"

    Not because I didn't expect to be betrayed, but because I didn't actually expect to be betrayed by ALL THREE of them. What they did to the staff was brutal as well, and although there's game rationale for who survived I thought it was explained well.

    I found myself second-guessing some of my own decisions because they made playthrough sense but I wasn't sure they fit in the morality of the Corvo I created. I'm on the last level, and the only thing I've been explicitly disappointed with was that they surface the game mechanics of your "chaos level" right at the end. They did such a wonderful job of keeping everything at a world level and not referencing game mechanics right up until that point, and it was kind of sad that it shows up as a banner across your screen.

    OH the other thing that made me annoyed is that once the overseers with the music boxes start playing, apparently you can't sleep dart them? What the fuck, you guys.