Roderick

Fuck you, Toblix! I always knew you were a crook!

YES YES YES YES YES I'm buying: - Shogun 2 (just the single game, no expansions) - The Binding of Isaac - Legend of Grimrock My Steam name is starfluxian. Thanks Toblix!

Ok, Steam is being unhelpful. Is there a person here willing to buy the games on Steam for me as a gift, whereupon I will transfer real actual money to their bank? (Probably best done within the EU.) Because of the ending sales, swift replies are welcome :-) [edit] We're talking about 18,07 euros in total.

I'm gonna try to buy my things on Steam again. I'll get back to you with bitching in a moment.

Unfortunately, my money is apparently not good enough for Steam, as it won't let me pass beyond the Paypal information screen. And before I can send a mail to their customer support, I need to create a second, separate account which I refuse to do for reasons of what the fuck.

I hear Dark Messiah is good fun with tactile combat. (Things I wish from the Might & Magic universe: a new proper Might & Magic RPG and an oldschool Heroes of Might & Magic game that captures the charm and 2D fantasy world the series was known and beloved for.) Question of my own: if I buy Shogun 2 (10 Euros), is it absolutely essential to get the Fall of the Samurai expansion pack with that (which is kind of expensive because it's new)?

I must echo how nice the globe is. I don't think as a writer I'll be of much use to a hardcore strategy project, though.

I'm considering Legend of Grimrock for a paltry €5,59 and The Binding of Isaac for 2andthensome. 500 euros? You won't see penny one from me, you slag!

Oh, that was a parody! That makes so much more sense now.

Will give this combo a try. With all the idols on, this game is getting intense.

Hahaha, that one is excellent. Vampire Downey Holmes.

The bellows and the mortar are the best weapons?! You're not being facetious? I tend to go for a pike/shotgun combo.

If you didn't find what you were looking for in the first few levels, I don't really think you'll find it later on. The game is pretty consistent throughout. I was hooked right away by the richness of it (didn't see or wasn't bothered by the visual clutter), the fun challenges and the storytelling (which really isn't to say there's a big story going on, just more of a set of themes around a thin spindle of a narrative). But if it's not your bag, no problem.

What a delightful prank! I love it.

I finished Bastion, which I got as a gift from the awesome Thunderpeel. What an amazingly charming game! The voice over and western atmosphere are both fitting and fresh for the fantasy setting. They could've gone for a classic vibe but I'm glad they didn't. As someone mentioned earlier in this thread, the best part is how matter-of-factly the world is described. It's all Gasfellas and Something Stringy. Both the narration and the excellent lore are used incredibly competently. Enough is told to set the imagination ablaze, but nowhere does it succumb to the trap of getting too worked up over it too quickly and explaining everything. It's a spicing that gradually grows to be emotionally gripping - the antithesis of heavyhanded 'Blizzard-style' storytelling. The ending: Also a good move, and taking a leaf from Half-Life 2 amongst others, was the decision to give the player a new, powerful toy at the very end to play with. Bastion is great at spreading its gameplay across the full game, so that it just never gets the chance to be repetitive or boring. As for the art style, it's gorgeous. The 3D Kid character doesn't gel completely with the rest, but truth be told, you're never really looking at him anyway. Your eyes are, and should be, on the environment and the dangers therein. For the record: I have started game plus with all the idols on, which is instantly super challenging. I'm playing with the WASD setup, which is my only option. A bit clunkier than the gamepad perhaps, and it may destroy my chances of getting all the proving ground challenges at first prize, but it'll do.

They should probably release a new edition of the books where all the characters' names are replaced by their actor's name. At that moment, Peter Dinklage slapped Jack Gleeson hard across the face. 'Take it like a man, Gleeson!' Dinklage spat.* * Not an actual line from the book.

The humor in The Trenches is passable, if too drawn out, but it's the full concept that is really fun - especially the 'tales from the trenches' feature with real stories from abused testers. There's value there.

The only time I've been actively annoyed at the PA ads are right now with the World of Warcraft banners. There's this incredibly stupid goblin dancing on it and it's the most infuriating thing. That said, I don't really understand why PA would want to ditch their ad-driven business model. As has been made very clear, they get to CHOOSE which ads they run. That makes them effectively their endorsements for a product, which is something they already do in the rants. What's the difference? An endorsement is an endorsement and it's not like they have to put up with stupid ads for products they wouldn't stand behind. As for the operating costs of maintaining ads, surely that's not a big deal for them. They have a lot of employees, the infrastructure is in place and companies are coming to them. It's strange on a second level because PA have always been really close with their sponsored products, frequently providing spinoff comics for games or doing other ad stuff. Suddenly going all out to eradicate the ads on the site seems weird. But ultimately, it does feel like an abuse of Kickstarter. It feels like an egregious joke. (I wish PA would start focusing on making an actually funny comic strip again instead of all the surrounding stuff. PA hasn't been funny in about a good year now, going for cheap laughs and struggling to find something to work with. Maybe they've stretched it out too far? Maybe they should have quit at a high point some ways back? The Trenches is way more interesting than anything the original comic has produced in a long time. I get the feeling it's just there to maintain the overall structure, rather than a real source of inspiration and ambition.)

Is misogyny a natural animal state? I generally see it as a(n unfortunate) human development. But perhaps females are subjugated in the animal realm as well and indeed it is something that came with us as unwanted baggage. Perhaps we even started logically explaining and defending it (as we do with all our urges) by viewing women as lesser beings, which is a mere step removed from hating them. All speculation on my part!

Doug Stanhope is a hit and miss comedian. I laughed at the imagine of the picture he described, but his thinking about words and meaning is shallow. Being offended is not something taught by your parents in an attempt to make you 'weaker' (what a strange thought that is! It implies a world of weird notions, for instance that it is weak to be sensitive to other people, that it is weak to have access to the full spectrum of emotions). Offense is pounded in you as trauma, sometimes, other times it is righteous indignation because you have learned just how vile something is. The correct response to harrassment and bullying isn't telling the victim to grow thicker skin and take it, it's to educate bullies why their behavior is heinous and wrong.

Wow, they've already got in the pocket! That's quite the achievement, honestly. I don't know what to think about the console itself, to be frank. It would really depend on the games down the line. If there appears a vibrant scene of must-play things, I might buy into it, but almost certainly not before then. That said, way to go! It seems like a cool project with some good momentum behind it.

Very cool! I'm not myself interested in the Sopwith Camel, since I've got nothing particularly for planes, but it's a fun model. (Get a decent camera, though!)

Mind blown.

Are words not the very tool for inflicting 'psychological violence'? I'm surprised when people underestimate the power of words. Sticks and stones is the biggest load of crock. War propaganda, incitement towards nationalism and terrorism, religion; all mere words.

I've recently seen a string of (few years-old) movies I really liked. Kingdom of Heaven: After the disastrous experience that was Robin Hood, this restored my faith in Ridley Scott. What a great film, epic in scope yet focused in theme and with a nuanced view on the whole affair. I should watch the director's cut as it supposedly is much better (if also much longer). Mission: Impossible 3: After the mildly entertaining but dumb experience that was Ghost Protocol, this was like a cool shower of awesome. Such a tight, personal and heartfelt action film. Really, how could anyone not have been disappointed in part 4 after this one? Phillip Seymour Hoffman is so effective and scary as a villain. The Bad Lieutenant - Port of Call: New Orleans: This movie had no right to be that entertaining. I was expecting an interesting but also heavy viewing, one that would test my patience. Instead, it was pure entertainment all the way through, without sacrificing any story difficulty. I shouldn't have doubted Nicolas Cage to make anything fun to watch, and this was the first time I saw a Werner Herzog film, so I couldn't have known how good he was.