JonCole

If you find Dota 2 at all interesting, there is a games industry tournament currently going on at - http://www.twitch.tv/rektreational Schedule is here (times are Pacific US) - http://rektreational.tumblr.com/

Yeah, that was a tough encounter. My impression about the big guns is that they're mostly just effective vs the normal guys and not any of the specials, half because they make you slow and vulnerable to enemy fire and half because they aren't great at range and you really don't want to get up close and personal with a shotgun or rocket guy.

Yeah, I thought that the progression of that battle at 85% versus the progression of the final battle was quite superior. I guess the only good part of the final battle being as it was is that I was 100% sure it was the last battle, so unlike in other games I burned all my special ammo because why not? I don't like when the final battle is a surprise and then you're like, "glad I saved all my armor-piercing ammo for the last bo... oh, crap that was the last boss :(" Also, #kraftwerkart -

Hey, I also finished Wolfenstein: The New Order! I'm mostly in agreement, the story wasn't something incredible but it was self-aware, measured, and did what I believe it set out to do. I didn't think that anyone could get me to care about Wolfenstein, but this game really did it. The characters were all pretty great and I loved the Ramona diary entries along the way. I also loved how every Nazi was an absolute shitlord. By the end, I found that I liked every gun pretty much equally. Usually these games get me to gravitate towards using one or two, but the game created lots of situations where each weapon had a good use and the situations evolved as more guns and mechanics were made available. I barely ever dual-wielded weapons, though, but I guess that's probably just a dedication to Wolf 3D? I dunno, it felt weird and I don't know how I would have survived some of the combat situations I was in without being able to aim and take more measured shots (I was playing at the second highest difficulty). Anyways, super good stuff.

Theoretically PS Now is still in "open beta", so there's still potential for them to review their decision on pricing. Also, there are rumblings about a PS Now service subscription, which could also provide a better value proposition.

Buzzfeed puts out a critical response to "Saved You A Click"-type sensibilities and the Twitter account dedicated to that cause - http://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/please-stop-saving-me-a-click I read this analogy as the writer saying that Buzzfeed, which is often the butt of @SavedYouAClick's pithy responses, is effectively the professor or Mom. Seriously? Part of the whole reason such an account exists is because places that are self-defined as "serious news organizations or blogs" write ridiculous stories that literally have a one word or one sentence "point".

I like Pernille's stuff -

I made the below sandwiches for breakfast and they were delicious (not my picture), here's the highly recommended recipe - http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2010/04/ham-and-cheese-sliders.html

So, a Utah blogger working for an "English Language Center" writes a post about homophones, is subsequently fired for promoting a "gay agenda" - http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/58236366-90/says-english-homophones-language.html.csp I have no words.

Is there mid-match drop-in for strikes/raids through matchmaking (I'm fairly sure you can drop-in with friends)? I believe I played a strike where one guy dropped out and he wasn't replaced through the end of the mission.

I like Guild Wars 2 as a low-pressure, decent social interaction MMO.

Well, also wifi. I get very little latency over my gigabit ethernet switch.

Most devs that get put games for free on PS+ are super tight lipped, but I do recall reading something recently where the devs of Mercenary Kings said that they didn't regret putting their game for free (which was actually their day 1 release) because they did get some for-sure, up-front money for the deal and it got people invested in their brand/franchise in the event of future titles.

Publisher subscriptions are super weird because I basically never buy games based on who publishes them, unless they're an "indie" publisher like Devolver who wouldn't have the clout to pull off something like this. Anyways, I don't have an Xbox One so I don't really give a crap.

Would anyone in here be interested in paying for or trading for a copy of Watch_Dogs for PC? I'm considering buying a video card that comes with a gift copy of it but it's really testing my disposable income this month and anything to soften the blow would be nice. I don't expect full retail for it, $20 or something like that is what I'm thinking. Sorry if this is the wrong place for this! Please contact me via PM if you're at all interested.

He also donated like a million dollars to the Reading Rainbow revival.

I always enjoyed that. Wish prices at GS weren't so hideous though, Tales of Vesperia for $35 used? Really? At this point Gamestop is just window shopping for buying my used games from Gamefly, Amazon Warehouse Deals or eBay.

Hahaha, that looks fake but I feel like there's an equal chance it's real.

According to a post on Reddit, some figures on how many zones/missions was leaked through the Beta - Also seems like the progression will be Earth -> Moon -> Asteroid Belt -> Venus -> Mars in the story. Strike Missions will duplicate to suit varying levels, like the one in the beta which could be played at Lv6 or Lv8 difficulty. From that list, the multiplayer game types seem to be - Clash, Skirmish, Rumble, Control, and Salvage.

Endgame/non-story stuff - Strike missions - Synonymous with "raids" in typical MMOs. Co-op mandatory dungeons where you fight multiple bosses with the primary objective of good drops. Crucible - PvP-specific mode. Gametypes similar to any other competitive shooter. There's also a mode that takes your armor and weapon stats from the regular game and uses them in PvP, meaning people with the best loot will have a distinct advantage. Explore mode - go through story-based areas with no particular story objective. Find loot chests, take part in incidental environmental events, look for collectible grimoire entries in the environment, and work on... Daily bounties - story/strike/explore bounties give you extra experience + Vanguard rank for killing AI in a particular way, Crucible bounties do the same for experience + Crucible rank. Also I presume there will be some kind of events, because otherwise I don't see any reason for that shared hub that you see other people in. In Guild Wars 1/2, there are seasonal event mini-games that take place in hub cities to celebrate real-life and in-game holidays.

Does Canada/whatever province you're in have grant-based legal aid services? Here where I live in the US, there is an income-sensitive organization of lawyers funded by grant money that specifically focuses on low-income legal issues like employment, taxes, fair housing, family law, etc. I feel like they'd almost certainly help with a case like the one you describe if you were here instead of there.

The only thing that I felt was compelling re: hacking in Watch Dogs was the driving escapes from cops. Timing traffic light changes, deploying barriers, exploding transformers to cause a strategic blackout, all of that stuff made the ordinarily well-trodden, buzzkill ground of the GTA-style police chase much more interesting. Also, the collectathon-style aspect of Ubisoft games are probably best expressed in AC2. I was able to complete that game with about 90% of the sidequests completed and collectable items collected just through the natural course of my game. With Watch Dogs and AC4, I'd need to specifically devote lengthy periods of game time to that task or simply play for hours on end after completing the game proper to "finish everything".

Yeah, from what I read about other the other sub-classes they're very support focused. I believe the Warlock's alternate class is basically a healer who can quickly recover allies health bars in a pinch which can turn the tide of a control point capture or give a flag carrier some needed extra longevity.

Can I get that zip file?

Yup, just completed the Moon mission. Didn't see any in-game indication of any particular item that would be carried over, or if this is just a situation where it logs me as playing during this window and has some "you got this thing!" mail when the actual game comes out. Also, looks like Iron Banner Crucible matches are up right now. If you're going to play any of that, grab some of the bounties - a few of them are pretty easy.