syntheticgerbil

Well that's good to hear, maybe it's not so overt then I can rest a bit more easy (Fucked up stuff still happens though?). I read about the "sound effect" and other stuff on NeoGAF from these posts: http://67.227.255.239/forum/showpost.php?p=105031136&postcount=1481 http://67.227.255.239/forum/showpost.php?p=105372539&postcount=1931

I could be very wrong and I actually hope I am or at the very least that some of this stuff is done with some sort of tact. The B&B Corp and their awkward portrayal is what really brought down 4 for me. I'm just pretty sad about this I suppose.

Mmmm, that was some sextacular CMI. Thanks for the post!

Honestly, fuck this game. It kind of makes me feel major regret that I have invested a bunch of time in the Metal Gear Solid series. Why? Not because it's a prologue released as a separate game for way too much money. It's because of what I've heard of certain story spoilers involving some fucking nasty audio logs. No, I haven't played it so I haven't heard them and how they are executed, but I was alerted by someone in the comments on the Polygon article and it was jarring enough just to know the subject matter. Major spoilers: And I don't care that I spoiled this nasty subject matter for myself, it would be like revealing what happens in the Tanker or the Virtuous Mission. It's all stuff that happens before the opening titles.

I would say B.P.R.D. is well worth the read if you really like the characters from the main series, especially Abe Sapien. It answers a lot of questions of everyone's past plus they have their own cases that are pretty neat in their own right. Mike Mignola usually writes for the series (or cowrites with Christopher Golden), so it's legit enough. Guy Davis does most of the art, and while I found it jarring at first with how cartoony it looks compared to Mignola's, it grew on me and I found it very atmospheric and colorful. I would love to get that 20 Years book, but I'll have to wait until later for the cash flow. I'm also a bit worried there may be spoilers for someone like me who is not caught up. But the books always have a lot of cool bonus material, especially in the Library editions and the B.P.R.D. omnibuses, so I'm sure 20 Years is that times 10. Plus I think the big collections are the most cost effective way to get updated on the series at this point if you aren't buying used books. Do the digital comics come with all the sketches and character concepts? EDIT: Wow there was a lot of stupid spelling mistakes in there.

So jealous! Did he dish all the secrets? The sweet dish.

Oh I guess I should comment since I've read allt Hellboy and B.P.R.D. stuff chronologically up until 2007 (or 8). I've also read the novels, which are supposed to be in the comic universe and not the movie or animated show (plus some of the same authors are shared from B.P.R.D.), but they are stand alone cases for the most part. I'm not to Hellboy in Hell yet, but at least up until TPB 8, Hellboy never references or crosses over with the happenings of the B.P.R.D series. I'm guessing since he goes to hell, there'll be even less intersect. In general though, most Hellboy stories are self contained cases that don't require much prior knowledge. It's odd that this set contains the Weird Tales series, which are just funny and strange Hellboy comics drawn and written by others (the Dorkin one is my favorite of course). Strangely enough, it doesn't include the fucking insane and raunchy Hellboy Junior comics released long ago. Maybe they thought the non canon of that particular series would confuse everyone since Hellboy is perpetually in hell in that book while a pesky naked Hitler runs around. Besides just basic references, all B.P.R.D comics are self contained. The series is heavy on continuity after the first two TPBs though, so it's probably best to read all of those in order. Although, since I'm about 5-6 years behind on all of the content, I can't really say what the requirements of reading are when Abe Sapien has his own spin off series now. There's also Lobster Johnson stuff, but all of the things I've read so far (barring TPB 5 of Hellboy) have nothing to do with the story line are are just a comic within a comic, kind of like Radioactive Man within the Simpsons. Unfortunately, I know nothing at all about Witchfinder.

Hey there, I finished 160 levels of Word Spiral HD and Rabbids Travel in Time. They were acceptable.

I think I kind of know this feeling. I refuse to ever wear jeans because I hate how gross and restrictive denim feels. Everyone thinks I'm crazy because I guess jeans are the default pants, but whatever. I haven't had a pair of jeans since I was 11.

Man, I will always love The Coup, new and old:

I think someone is typing his answers as he speaks out loud. At least that's what some of the comments say. Either way, this is fucking gold. My day is made.

Wow, I think I vaguely remember this, I'm so glad to hear it. Didn't some of this dialogue appear in the text log somehow? I forgot how I heard about it before. Thanks Thrik!

I don't know, I personally think you need to club her over the head and then shave off all of her hair, rub it in fat, and distill the oils. God I love that movie. Haven't read the book.

Oh man, the image chosen for Dota Today 11 is terrible. I'm glad even though this woman is in a freezing cold blizzard, she can manage to get her tits out for the fans. Sheesh. Lords Management artists are the worst.

Geez this art is amazing!

It's funny, I had a friend argue with me about why adventure games all have bad design because they force you to figure out what the designer is thinking instead of what is logically possible, and he used that puzzle as an example of it. Seems like you didn't have much issue at all. I think long ago when I first solved it, I must have just been dicking around and hole punched the card ahead of time.

Thanks guys, I have now downloaded one episode from all suggested shows. A nice sampler plate of audio goodness.

I need podcasts to listen to at work, I'm running low and I need at least another 4 months of content. Can I maybe get some recommendations based on my tastes? I regularly listen to comedy type podcasts. While I like informative stuff, if it's not presented in an entertaining way, I get bored and I need podcasts to stave off boredom for now. My staples are Ricky Gervais Show, Idlethumbs (of course), a show called Technology Bytes that is broadcasted on Wednesdays in Houston that I love, My Brother, My Brother and Me, Sawbones, and This American Life. That last one is not really humorous, but This American Life is always great. I don't know if those are a good cross section of what I find funny, so there you go. But anyway, I'm pretty much caught up on all of those shows. I guess if I can't get enough of my McElroy fix, I can try Besties on Polygon, but last time I tried that podcast, it was so bad and stale I couldn't listen to Mbmbam for a year. It was like two different people and it was just so boring. Maybe the later episodes get better?

Ruining exceptions for everyone. Argh, I hate when people abuse favors. Sorry Miffy. On my front, I'm nearly 3 weeks in to this job where I stuff envelopes. I really do only that for 8 hours a day, it's kind of nuts on how repetitive it is. I don't know how long I can last, even though the pay is fine enough for unskilled labor, I can listen to music and podcasts, and my schedule is the same every week. Everyone is super nice there, but I just still feel sad that I'm doing nothing with my life now, and there's really no engaging aspect of the job. After a brief talk with BigJKO a few weeks ago I think I'm going to try to go back to school the second half of the year to do motion graphics instead, since it's still sort of animation. Maybe people will hire me then and I'll still sort of have a calling. Geez, almost 30 and my life is not figured out still. Boohoo, I guess. I never write anything positive in this thread. Maybe one of these days.

I can really only deal with him speaking only about once an episode. He is way too over the top.

Here's a scan of the missing scene from CMI: I would have felt better about her character (and the end plot) if this had made it in. I scanned this page a long time ago, I wonder if this is my scan that's been floating around or someone elses...

I usually play the game with screen sensitive controls, and besides the minor annoyances when screens change and you are going the wrong direction, overall I find it easier to control. But I would guess Zeus should give both a try. really have the marriage angle in both Curse and Escape. Curse she's so damsel in distress and in Escape it's all played up like an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond. Blech. Tales did it right for once, I think.

I kind of wish Parks and Rec would end because starting season 5 there have been a lot of bad storylines that don't belong. The Chris and Ann pregnancy was terribly uninteresting and awkward. The whole Jam guy is just stupidly cartoony. A lot of people on the show really seem to be suffering from Homer Simpson syndrome as well, which I always hate. I don't want to see the show end up just as unbearably terrible as The U.S. Office did in the last 2-3 seasons. What is the adlib? I kind of want to go through the whole series of this. I keep forgetting to leave it on at home. I have always really loved the character and how goofy and bumbling he comes off, but I haven't really given the series enough attention. Also I guess since we are on the TV front, did anyone else feel like House of Cards Season 2 was mostly garbage? The storylines seemed very dull and Frank and Claire Underwood are not very interesting on their own. A lot of what kept me interested in the first season was the ensemble cast and how much you felt for them even though you sort of wanted to see Frank's schemes play out against them. There's no one resembling the heart and interest of Peter Russo in Season 2 and his ex-girlfriend Christina just sort of disappears despite her being just as interesting as Peter. I was just completely bored by the end of the series. All of Frank's strategies he had in the first season suddenly became a stupidly simple staple of him just denying what he is doing even though everyone at some point suspects him for exactly who he is. I guess everyone in Congress really is that stupid because Frank sure as hell stopped being cunning. "I didn't do it, no no, I'm your friend." ad nauseum is poor writing.

OH FUCK YES!

Man, I totally get Sean's feelings of anxiety when listening to the podcasts of the game developers he admires. I often feel super stressed when I listen to interviews or podcasts involving artists I like because it just makes you feel so inferior but you also love the person's work so you want to keep listening. It's a weird disheartening feeling. I kind of feel similar when listening to Idle Thumbs because everyone on the cast has worked at amazing companies, especially ones involving all of the adventure game designers whose games I grew up on. It's just kind of a sinking sad feeling because I know I can never do that even though it's something I've always sort of dreamed of. But Remo, Nick, Jake, Sean, and Steve all are super smart and indispensible so it's understandable. Also the Double Fine documentary stuff was all super interesting to me but all kind of depressing because it showed a company full of people with a lot of love and support for eachother. It's just kind of depresses me after working for more than a few companies run by abusive types trying to milk you dry. Weirdly though, I found the Tone Control episode with Jonathan Blow to be super inspiring because I feel like I relate to the guy and his working methods. His burnout blog post from years ago was also a very good read I sometimes revisit. I guess he kind of works in that way of procrastinating and refining that eventually breaks through to a stroke of genius. Similarly, I read Jordan Mechner's book full of his Prince of Persia diary entries last year that just spoke of an insane procrastinator with a lot of difficulty working at any kind of constant pace yet succeed from a combination of a lot of thinking away from work plus having a fire lit under his ass. Yeah anyway, it's cool to hear Sean Vanaman, a designer of some GOTY.CX, still has the same insecurities of others. Err... I mean that in a good way though.