Zeusthecat

Cheque? That is so damn elegant. Us Americans have bastardized the English language and made it so damn boring. Although I'm pretty sure we started using "douchebag" as a derogatory term first so at least we've given something back.

Lately, whenever I write the words "color", "humor", and "favorite" I find it really hard to not put a "u" in there even though I've spelled that shit without a "u" for my entire life. I think some of the Thumbs are starting to wear off on me.

I think we're going to get along just fine.

Found your posts and I have to say I really like your take on the game and how your opinions changed as you played it. I feel like we probably had a similar experience with the game and the new systems. Also, glad to hear someone else liked the bombs because they were super cool even if they lacked a bit in variety. My one point of disagreement was in the setting. I really liked Istanbul, probably more than Rome. I think this is because it was all city with no open areas (I don't like open areas in these games, I feel like assassins would stick to rooftops, alleys, and crowded areas) and the npcs seemed to have more variety. I feel like they did a semi-respectable job representing a city where multiple cultures intersect and where not everyone is just an Italian person. I have to admit, as much as I don't like the cheesy story it has started to grow on me. I am actually secretly kind of interested in what happens at this point because I've stuck it out for so long. The character stereotypes are what bothers me the most but once I get past that it can be kind of a clever little story. I definitely hate Desmond less after this game and kind of enjoyed hearing his little backstory as I did those Desmond memory sequences. The historical story is pretty great though. Playing as Ezio through multiple decades has been really cool and I really liked the character development. I am actually kind of sad that his story has ended as I've grown quite fond of him as a character. One missed opportunity though that could have completely changed my opinion about the story:

I recently finished Assassin's Creed Revelations. I know I am in the minority on this but I actually think it was the best game in the series so far. I liked it enough to keep playing after the ending (which was fucking retarded by the way) and got all of the single player achievements. The fact that they finally mapped throwing knives/gun/poison darts to a separate button than hidden blade/sword/crossbow made everything so much more fluid in this game. That improvement alone convinced me that this one is superior to the previous 3 as far as gameplay is concerned. I also liked the bomb crafting system to a degree. There are a handful of bombs that I actually used regularly and they provided a little more depth to the gameplay despite the fact that a lot of the bombs more or less did the same thing. I only wish they would have provided more incentive to use the different types of bombs because I found absolutely zero reason to use the majority of them. I will say though that it was quite fun trying to get some of the bomb related achievements and that at least provided some incentive for me to experiment. The missions in this game were pretty varied and were some of the best in the series so far. At a certain point in the game a stronger enemy type is also introduced which changes things up since they shoot at you during combat and cannot be taken down in one hit unless you assassinate them before they see you. It definitely made combat a little more interesting as it forced me to use my poison darts to take those guys out during conflict and then watch them flail around as I fucked up the weaker guys. I'll never get tired of poisoning guards in these games. The story was crap as usual. Luckily Desmond is in a coma most of the game so the present day story isn't shoved up my ass as much as in previous games. Also, the den defense minigame is shit, thank god you only have to do it once (although I did it a few more times while trying to complete all the assassin challenges). Oh, and ziplines are great. Overall I had a lot of fun with this game. One last thing: Oh yeah, I figure it's also worth mentioning that I've been playing the multiplayer in Brotherhood. It is FANTASTIC. It really feels like multiplayer is the best way to play the game and feel like an assassin. I am so paranoid though after playing this. Every time I see an NPC I freak out because it could actually be a dude that is about to murder me.

Nice! I should try that. I never dream any more and I miss having badass dreams. I bet going to bed in that mindset makes you have some good ones.

I wish I could but I just can't suspend disbelief to that degree without devolving into a retarded caricature. I still remember the last time I played pretend. I was 18, had just graduated from high school, and was working nights at the only ice rink in Tucson, Arizona. After closing up we would usually skate(board) around in the parking lot and hang out for a bit before going home. But one night we decided to explore around in the desert area adjacent to the ice rink where there was a wash (a dry river for people that come from places with water) and other random junk that homeless people used for makeshift shelters. One of the other guys claimed that he had heard something which caused the rest of us to pick up some swords (sticks) that were lying around. We knew he didn't actually hear anything but played along anyways. Then as we cautiously explored the area we made up an elaborate story about the area being an ancient city for homeless people and that it was haunted by their leader "Bum-esus" (bum crossed with Jesus). At one point I half expected that we would have to battle Bum-esus, but alas we eventually came back to reality never to pretend again. So, yeah, video games. I can still pretend in those.

I've been weaving Idle Thumbs approved games into my normal gaming repertoire lately and I feel like I am going through my own gaming renaissance. I've recently played Secret of Monkey Island and Journey and am in the middle of Monkey Island 2 right now. Experiencing these games has been amazing. Not just amazing, fucking amazing. It has reminded me that video games were amazing 20 years ago and video games are amazing now. Plus, video games still allow me to play pretend even as an adult. I miss playing pretend.

I learned what a chili dog was from Mr Garrison. Needless to say I don't plan on ever applying that knowledge.

This is amazing. It is weird that it is so common for a family to get together and have alcoholic beverages but doing what your family does is almost unheard of, aside from the whole "illegal" thingy. I imagine you have some pretty great and interesting conversations during these get-togethers. I have smoked with my dad a few times and that was pretty cool. He's a pretty quiet dude so it's a rare opportunity to actually hear him drop some knowledge and talk to him on a somewhat deeper level, something that I would never see otherwise. My mom is addicted to a number of prescription painkillers so I've been working on trying to convince her to go for a medical card since we have that here now. I think she's pretty close to coming around. She doesn't 100% know that I smoke yet (although she probably has an idea) but I'm betting that if I told her about it now she would probably want to partake with me. Our relationship has been pretty rocky in the past so I think she would see it as a way to bond with her son. As far as the rest of the family goes, man, I can only dream. There is quite a lot of drama and hostility in my family and the thought of everyone being all chilled out and just laughing and having trivial conversation without any bullshit is very enticing.

Where have all the cowboys gone? Did they die off due to lack of genetic diversity? Do they just wear the same clothes as the rest of us? Does someone automatically become a cowboy by putting on a cowboy hat and/or cowboy boots? Are cowboys like towel boys but for cows? Are you only a cowboy if you end up with emphysema at some point in your life? Are any country music stars actually cowboys or is the cowboy hat still just a mandatory thing for them? I fucking hate cowboys. Unless there are cowboys on these forums then I guess cowboys are okay.

I agree with you. I don't really have a good argument against digital distribution, I am just particularly fond of having physical stuff. A lot of it probably has to do with the feeling of nostalgia it gives me for my childhood and the wonderment I felt looking at those games with the cool artwork and instruction manuals. There is also something about physically having it that affects me because it is the same physical thing I first played 15 or 20 years ago. For some reason my brain just doesn't process digital content in the same way. I'll come around though. I have no doubt that physical media will go away eventually one way or the other and I don't see a good reason why it shouldn't. I'll be happy as long as I can just have a digital bookshelf to display all my digital games in the same fashion as my physical games. Then I will buy a projector to beam my game collection onto my wall and maybe I can use the futuristic version of Kinect to grab my digital games Minority Report style and float them over to the console to boot them up.

My deep dark secret revealed, damn.

I am admittedly a little bit biased about DRM and the shift away from physical content. I even recently bought Dishonored for PC at the store because I prefer a physical copy that I can add to my collection. There is just something about physically owning all of that stuff that gives it a sense of permanence and visibility in my life. Not saying that's the way it should be but sometimes I sit there looking at my collection with a great sense of satisfaction at all of the cool shit I've accumulated over the years. Not sure where I'm going with this but man, fucking video games.

Thank you to everyone for being intelligent and non-judgmental about this subject. I really appreciate that people here can live their lives in the way that best suits them and not have a problem with other people deciding to live their lives differently. This is truly an awesome place.

Well, this IS my element. I won't hide it. Yes, vaporizers essentially remove all of the harmful carcinogens. It basically heats it up enough to cause the THC to evaporate but doesn't actually get hot enough to cause the whole thing to combust. I have a friend (one of the guys I work with) who doesn't like the harshness of the smoke and ordered a vaporizer online. It is quite pleasant. There are also eyedrops, cookies, pasta, brownies, etc. Directly smoking it can be somewhat harmful (not as bad as cigarettes because there aren't additional chemicals added) but any of these other methods have no tangible negatives associated with them as far as overall health is concerned. Despite all of this it really isn't for everyone. It is great for some and not so much for others. Edit: Twig, I think your mindset is a good one. I definitely don't think people are necessarily missing anything by not drinking or smoking. If you are happy with your normal state of mind, awesome. No need to go out of your way to do stupid shit. Me? I like doing stupid shit.

Honestly, I don't think things would really change much if at all. It would just reduce the risk for people who have a preference and wouldn't have much of an impact on others. I'm sure there are a subset of people out there that would prefer to smoke if it was legal but I bet a good number of those people already do and life would just continue on as always.

You know what would be nice? Some actual fucking data that shows what impact (negative or positive) the used game market has on publishers/developers. I've seen arguments in both directions. Some say that used game sales hurt publishers/developers and take money out of their pockets and others say that they actually help because they bring in new customers who might not otherwise buy the game and end up becoming loyal customers. Soooo... is there any actual data? If not then neither point of view has much to stand on. Personally, I am of the belief that used game sales neither hurt nor help publishers and developers because I haven't seen anything convincing enough for either argument. I'm thinking it's a wash.

Holy shit! This is both brilliant and terrifying at the same time. I can just imagine walking by someone's house and seeing a family watching a movie all decked out in Coca Cola paraphernalia posing like the statue of liberty while holding Coca Cola cans as they see "Achievement Unlocked: Brain Raped By Gamification of Advertising". I have always been irked by a lot of advertising techniques but man, I have to give them credit. They are really reaching a whole new psychological level of mindfucking.

Pretty interesting how Radiohead's strategy with In Rainbows worked out well for them. They let fans pay whatever price they wanted for the album with no DRM and actually ended up making a lot of money. Yeah, this probably won't always work and Radiohead is fucking Radiohead but I think it at least builds a case that a transparent, customer friendly approach is recognized by a lot of consumers.

Thank you for saying that. A lot of people here in the states opposed to it tend to have the perception that it would encourage use, corrupt our children, is a gateway drug, causes schizophrenia, etc. I think it's just a thing that some people like and some people don't just like alcohol or cigarettes (although ironically much less damaging to your body than those two and illegal here). I suspect things will change a lot within the next 10 years especially after seeing more and more states that have adopted less stringent laws in the last few election cycles. But, whatever happens happens. I'm hoping for a certain outcome but I'll be cool either way. And I would say there is quite a variety. Maybe not as diverse as beer but you would be surprised.

It's funny, none of the online requirements or used game/rental issues would likely ever be a problem for me. Once in a while I might borrow a game from a friend to try it out but it happens infrequently enough that this really wouldn't have that big of an impact on my gaming experience. But for some reason I still have a problem with it as a matter of principle. I know there are a lot of people out there that do buy used games, do rent games, and don't have internet and I have a hard time justifying putting my money behind something that will alienate those people. It is probably inevitable that this model will take over eventually anyways but as long as I can speak with my dollars I will put those dollars behind systems that don't implement these kinds of measures. It will be interesting to see what requirements Sony puts in place. If they do the same thing then I guess I'll just have to accept it and move on. But then again there's always the WiiU which is bound to gain some momentum and could win me over. In the end, me playing video games trumps everything.

I had a very surreal moment recently that I haven't really been able to share with anybody. So I'm gonna post it here. I went to lunch with my boss not too long ago. He is an engineer and project manager with 15 years experience and is in a fairly prominent role in our company. At one point in the conversation, the topic of the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington came up. Turns out he's a fan. He proceeds to tell me that he did it through college, how great he thinks it is, and how much he preferred it over alcohol. Then he sarcastically said "But I don't do that anymore of course" as he was grinning ear to ear. I then made a similarly vague admission as I grinned ear to ear. People in the company I work for are all pretty straight edge so this kind of blows my mind. I have found out about a few others over the years and it's just fucking crazy. I never expected it to be as common as it is in the type of company I work for. Fucking crazy.

I was running a fever once when I was 6 or 7 years old, went to sleep still running a fever, and when I woke up and went to the bathroom a full solid turd fell out of my pajamas. It was probably at least 6 inches long. I remember being very confused at how a turd got into my pants and finally realized it was my turd and I had somehow taken a full shit in my pants while I was sleeping. I can only assume I had had some kind of a wetting the bed dream but a poop version and just slept through the whole thing because I was delirious. Luckily I've never pooped my pants since then, except for the occasional squirt of diarrhea.

I wonder if they sell baby games at Babies 'R Us.