Thyroid

This is basically the incentive for me working towards leaving here. I'm working on it; the plan is I'm out, for good, by summer of 2013. Coding, writing, and (planning on) designing software and games video games to land myself a job and leave here. What job? Who knows? Maybe at some game developer I highly respect (I won't lie and say I haven't dreamed of working at Telltale or Double Fine or Valve), maybe at someplace like Google, maybe just working on nifty indie games in my spare time. Are these high dreams that would make you think "Head, clouds, etc"? Probably. But at least I'm trying.

Situation in Jordan: generally calm, though with signs of small, small unrest. There were protests yesterday, demanding a democratic government (people want to elect their own prime ministers and ministers and what not), which quickly got shut down. Our King's birthday is coming up, so everyone is throwing up posters, ads (yep) and banners praising him. Worrying thing #1: Intelligence are being more active than usual. Yesterday I got in a cab with a guy who randomly assured me he was Iraqi, before randomly saying that all these people putting up those posters are "monafiqeen" - abandoners of all that is good and right in the world, and slaves and servants of the devil and his agenda, atheism. Or something. I dunno. I'm pretty sure he was intelligence, anyways, since a good chunk of cabbies are and no-one would dare say that. I stayed quiet. Worrying thing #2: I don't know if Jordan could deal with a democratic government. I hate to say it, but people here are racist and bigoted. A guy from Al-Salt would never get voted in by Circassians, for example, and vice versa; and the amount of "wastat" - an extreme form of nepotism - would rise even higher. I shudder to think about the amount of fighting this could potentially lead to. Ugh, the fights that Jordan University kids get into; and ugh ugh ugh over the reasons (three I recall: some Palestinian dude spits in front of Circassian girl and Circassian dudes takes offence, some guy sits in place of other guy on bus which causes tribal fight and lead to death last year, and Yarmouk University's student elections). Anyways.

Oh. 1. Kinda surprised at the responses, in a good way. 2. I was writing a hiiiiiiilarious joke about offing myself because I made my girlfriend feel horrible, but was duly interrupted and must've submitted the post in its current form. It reads like a goodbye note. 3. I was actually upset, but just because she was too. Anyways, we talked and she's all happy now, so I'm not feeling like I just lit a 3 year old on fire. Making your girlfriend cry - especially my girlfriend, who is the sweetest person I know - is the worst thing ever. I mean, I did it by accident (I wasn't picking up on the subtext of our conversation) but still. 4. Woo I am feeling much better now. I feel I should say this on the internet, though: I love you, Tami. Don't ever feel bad. I hope you google "Kroms" someday and read this.

Today was the day in which I acknowledged that I am dumb. Dumb as a fucking brick. I also made my girlfriend cry and I think her break-up with me is imminent. Anyways, to save the world a headache I am going to quit the internet. Goodbye, Idle Thumbs. It's been nice.

The video's screen-cap says it all. SH0KH9F4He8

That trailer sounds like something straight from the mouth of Tommy Wiseau.

Buying Telltale games has always been an automatic process; buying Activision games was never an option. This kind of upsets the balance, so I'll just wait for reviews to roll in before deciding if the plunge is worth taking.

You know, though? I find the Lee Harvey Oswald being sole killer theory very hard to believe. On the other hand, the real story is probably not as stupidly convoluted as the movie makes it out to be.

A couple of days ago I saw JFK: The Director's Cut, which is a good movie. Some puzzling work in the make-up department, but if you want to see Tommy Lee Jones covered in golden paint and in a gay bondage game with Kevin ***** and Joe Pesci, watch this. This brings the total of Kromsy Movie Year up to 4 movies now.

That's kind of my dilemma. I've been boycotting Activision for almost 2 years now, but usually lap-up Telltale's games. Well, I've been disappointed in their bug-filled releases, but usually I'm all ready for new Telltale. So I'm extremely indecisive. I think this is one that I *will* actually leave to reviews...yet, at the same time, it doesn't feel right.

You're around 100 now and plan to expand to 140 (I think by the end of the year).

BREAKING NEWS: Telltale making every game ever.

Just under. At the end I simply collapsed onto the bed (shoes still on) and slept for 18 hours without budging. Got up, had breakfast, finished work and then - six hours later - slept for another eight. I didn't realize how drained I was until I felt good again. It's something else. Don't do it.

I've been unhappy about this myself. Poker Night was riddled with bugs, to the point where I couldn't play it anymore. I avoided Back to the Future (partially) for that reason (my non-enthusiasm for it was almost made-up for by the price). Seriously, Telltale. Be professional...

Still hoping for that original IP, though.

D'Oh for starting other thread. :tdown: out of a potential 4.

. I don't have any other place to link you to except for that unfortunate cesspool of diarrhea IGN. Sorry.Some stuff: 1. Zombies, how original. 2. I like how the trailer is edited - the idea is super cool - though Random Lingerie Zombie is doing her hardest to remind you that this is, first and foremost, a video game with realistic market expectations. 3. Why is it Dead Island if everyone is undead? 4. This says nothing about the game itself, except for maybe that we'll play as the mum. 5. But look at all the blood.

So I'm a few hours into this (I'm where ). I figure I should post something video game-related on these forums. Here are some quick thoughts, probably meaningless: 1. I like how slick the animation is. Ezio's killing sprees make sense, and I especially like how you're given a degree of control over them. If you're stabbing soldier A and soldier B is making a move, you get to choose whether you stab B or block and counter-attack him. It's a satisfying system, with a degree of believability that wouldn't have worked in AC2 - since Ezio is now this Templar-murdering killing machine. 2. The title sequence - where Ezio and Mario jump off the tower and into the water - is cool. It harkens back to AC2's "may it never change us" scene, but manages to stand on its own. I like how you can compare the two to how Ezio's changed. 3. I'm not sure I'm entirely happy with Ezio now. It makes sense that he's a cold-blooded killer these days, but he's always too willing to go out and kill; it's such an off-handed decision. It's almost like he's aware he's a video game character, not a human being. 4. I love how beautifully vast Roma is, but I miss the variety of AC's differing cities. The music has also lost some of its willingness to be cheery, and instead falls back on being a quiet chant that, I think, lends a too-continuous atmosphere of foreboding that the game needs to clear away. 5. The numbering system doesn't work. If I'm supposed to be feeling like a man whose reputation as a threat to all life precedes him, then why keep telling me I'm only achieving 50% synchorization? It's like saying you're only 50% of the real thing. It's a small nitpick, but I think they'd have benefited by saying, "Synchronization complete," then thrown in a "Extra points" mark for achieving full status (for example, not getting caught killing someone, etc). 6. One thing that diluted AC2 for me was that, by the end of the game, everything had a video game function. The prostitutes were a distraction, thieves...something, mercenaries for hire. You'll have heard everything by the end. I like how in this one, you see lovers, the insane, people goofing off, making jokes, having fights. It makes for a much richer, far more believable world, and is all the better for it. I hope it stays that way. The only thing I don't like is how they re-used so much secondary dialogue from AC2, though I'll never tire of a hysterical woman's, "The Lord is my Shepherd! THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD!" Still, I'd have preferred new dialogue. It's not that hard to write some decent throwaway lines. 7. I wish they'd drop the modern world storyline about the Templars, the Animus and so on. It's all so silly. How hard is it to just stick to an interesting, captivating adventure/thriller set in Renaissance Italy? The setting just begs for it. And they have all this access to classic literature...The worst thing is that they keep reminding you of it. For instance, AC2's descriptions of buildings and characters you encountered made for interesting and mood-setting historical information, whereas here they always inject some snide remark from that asshole you have working with you. It completely shatters the suspension of disbelief. There's a million more examples. 8. The best part so far: 9. Riding horses in cities is the best thing ever.

I just started on Oliver Twist. It's good if you can overcome the language hurdle, which isn't as high as it may initially seem. But for example's sake: It's still accessible and, honestly, quite good.

How about them books? I'm reading A Confederacy of Dunces. I've yet to see much of a confederacy, but there's quite a few dunces; it's actually quite a cast of characters in here, complete with spiffing dialogue. Based on what I've read so far (150 pages left), I highly recommend it.

It happened in Tunisia, it's happening in Egypt, it might happen in Yemen and, now, happening here. I hope we don't come to violence, though. Scary side-note: most of the people protesters are asking for are just awful, awful people from tribal families that will promote tribal mentalities.

Strong Bad and two levels of 007: Goldeneye.

Guys, I'm here to blow my own horn right now. Skip if you don't want to read about how impressed I was with myself this morning and why: Last night I stayed up until 5 am: - Giving my girlfriend a shoulder to cry on and making her feel better. She eventually was laughing and joking around and, finally, relaxed enough to go to sleep. This morning she woke-up feeling great; - talking my friend through a freakout. She's this really sweet girl with a past so eventful she's like a living soap opera - ended up having a freak-out yesterday, and I talked her through it. In the end she told me she loved me for it; - Talking an old friend of mine through a freakout, because his girlfriend left him and he was getting his self-doubts up again; - all while working on a biiig assignment due in 3 hours, and I'm 99% done. I won't lie, people. When all was done and these three people I love so much were feeling good, and then my code started working? I think my life peaked right there. Kroms right now = +

Swarm is interesting to me because it won some big award at some big, important indie games festival a few years back, I *think* in relation to its AI. It looks like it could be something, though I'm hoping it arrives on Steam.

I hope I didn't come across that way. Sorry if I did! I don't mind you asking, at all. Ask away!