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Wow. Just stumbled across this ancient thread...iPad is still around. Who would have thought... As an aside, my middle one (who was around two years old when I wrote the original post) is now a sixth grader. She spent a nice portion of the Winter Break making TikTok videos and reading Arkham Horror fiction on her new iPad Pro.
I just finished binging a few titles, two of which I've added to my favorites: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (ダンジョンに出会いを求めるのは間違っているだろうか)---I absolutely loved it! Some very intense moments in the finale; several times throughout the series I was very nearly brought to tears. Occultic;Nine (オカルティック・ナイン) is actually pretty complex, and the subtitles run by at a very clipped pace, but I'd recommend pausing to read rather than watching the English dub (it's no good at all). The light novels (in three volumes) make a great accompaniment to the series.
It's that magical time of year! And the perfect time to resurrect this thread, first began eight long years ago! Ahhh...
But I digress. As we fall into Autumn...2016! (ahem) What are some really good books to call in the best season of the year? A couple of my perennial favorites--- Faerie Tale by Raymond Feist; exceptionally cool if you're able to finish it on Hallowe'en night... Poe by Gaslight includes all the best-loved seasonal favorites... Of course, you have to find a copy of Washington Irving's The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., and re-read 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'... The Darkest Part of the Woods by Ramsey Campbell; a paean to the darkside... Something Wicked This Way Comes, October Country, The Hallowe'en Tree, and From the Dust Returned, by the illimitable Master of Autumn, Ray Bradbury... What can you think of...?
Hey! I'm romancing my Synth! I mean, she feels real... Every synth I've met shoots first
Oh, come on; this is fourth grade math.
So...the remaining horde is 20 walkers deep around the perimeter of the Safe Zone. Let's assume the radius of the safe zone is 800 meters (or a mile from one end of town to the other), and the walkers are a dynamic crowd of 4 walkers per square meter...how many walkers are surrounding the Walls of Alexandria?
I have a very young kid and an older almost 8 year old... I just saw Minions with them both and it was right up their alley (both of them). This one sounds a bit above the young one's paygrade, but would you say it's ok for a 8 or 9+ year old or recommend waiting for a few years? My kids: 5, 7, 11. No problems at all. I'd recommend it for any age, especially if you have more precocious youngsters.
I just saw this today with my three little ones; uniformly, we enjoyed it immensely. I'm very close to saying that it may be the best animated film I've ever seen, if not in terms of style and technique (though the trip through Abstract Thought was entirely original and spectacularly well-done!), then certainly in terms of progression and execution. Even standard Pixar/Disney/genre clichés are beautifully rendered, think the self-sacrifice of Bing-Bong or Riley's emotional collapse and resolution when she returns home and unloads on her parents. Admittedly, the film is also the most heart-wrenching Pixar release to-date: I think this is due to the real-world nature of the story--there are no monsters, faeries, talking toys or really anything supernatural at all; rather, the entire story is superbly grounded in reality, and the denizens of Riley's psychology are patently representative. With no singing (not a chorus to be had), catchy tunes (nary the Let-It-Go to be heard), or flummoxing flippity-flappity sidekicks (Olaf Carrotnose, begone!), Inside Out is decidedly cerebral and completely worthwhile.
Well...at this point arguing whether or not climate change is occurring is a little like arguing whether or not water is wet. Is the change solely the result of human activity? Partially? Is it wholly natural (cyclic)? I suppose this is still largely unproved (the ultimate cause), but to logically and reasonably argue that it's simply not happening at all...hmmm.
What is the thought process for folks wanting to talk politics...on an RPG site Some of the best political arguments I've ever had were had here at Paizo. I value and respect the opinions of the Paizo community; and as gamers we share a common ground that many of us find particularly absent in our normal daily interactions.
While I'd like (and to a degree, expect) better graphics and gameplay, etc., what I want is more Fallout 3 (and the super-expansion-pack Fallout: New Vegas, in bits and pieces at least). If the game looks exactly like the Capitol Wasteland (only set in Boston), then I'll be perfectly fine with that. That said, there are things I hope they improve on or steer away from-- -I prefer the 3rd person perspective of FO3 over the too-close TPOV of FONV, but I’ll be happy so long as it’s not the damnable always-in-the-way TPOV of The Evil Within -I prefer the leveling system of FO3 over FONV, specifically the dual system over the binary system; only getting a new trait every other level was ultimately disappointing in FONV -I’d also like to see a much higher level cap (like 50 or 60)—once I maxed out my level in FO3, I discovered just how rewarding the level up had been; I no longer enjoyed the game quite as much once there was no reward at the end -I’d also like to see a truly open sandbox—both FO3 and FONV had multiple areas that were inaccessible without a hack or discovering an accidental glitch -Why can’t I sleep in an owned bed? Especially if the ‘owner’ has died? -Rather than simply disallow actions against certain NPCs, introduce weapons malfunctions, including misfires, hang-fires, duds and squib-loads -weather effects—let it rain, snow, sleet, gust, etc. let’s have seasonal change and introduce weather effects against PC abilities
I’ve never forgotten my children anywhere, car, shop, park—you name it. Nonetheless, when the first one was an infant she would often fall asleep in her carseat and the sudden, blessed quiet would allow me to momentarily (fractionally, mind you, we’re talking something like seconds here) forget about her. I can recall any number of times, once this vehicle-motion-induced serenity had ensued, remarking to my wife that we should eat at such-and-such restaurant for dinner, or go shopping at so-and-so’s store, only to be gently reminded that the baby made that too problematic—in those moments, after I would sigh out a resigned, “Oh, yeah…” with the slightest click of my tongue as I self-admonished, I realized I had actually forgotten about the small and absolutely helpless being strapped in behind me. On any occasion, and with absolutely no hyperbole, I can tell you I would have scooped out my own eyes with a rusty spoon rather than see any harm come to her. Even still I can’t deny the wretched and dissonant fact that while she was always on my mind, sometimes she wasn’t. As to memory and anyone’s ability to multitask and organize, I can recall any number of times, after weeks of three-to-four hour’s sleep a night and a full time job on top, when I changed the baby’s diaper twice because I forgot I had just done it, or warmed two bottles of milk because the first one was inexplicably set down in the cabinet with the glasses, or placed in the freezer, or sat at the foot of her crib, only to be discovered hours later. Rather than recriminate and decry the tragically unfortunate parents for whom a second’s memory lapse turned into an hour or a day, for whom the daily, incessant routine built a false room in that ephemeral memory palace we all roam, I weep for them and their loss. There is literally nothing anyone can do to these parents to cause them greater agony or sorrow; their pain is already permanent and thorough.
I have to remember to read these boards with the lights on-- my eyes rolled so hard that one of them popped out, bounced off the bed, and slipped under some piece of furniture. Now I'm wandering around a cyclops; probably for life. What's new about this anyway? Vulcans have always been in the White House...
stuff... Parents being willing to let kids play outside, out of sight & unsupervised, as long as they were back by dinner. Those were the little adventures that inspired me to think about big adventures. I remember those days! Back in 84-85, the best my mom could have said to anyone was that I was probably somewhere within a 5 or 6 mile radius, and I'd come home by dinner. Now, in 2015, one of the key requirements for a house is that it have a fenced-in back yard, because I'm 100% unwilling to let the kids wander the wilds until they're 30.
My family and I thoroughly enjoyed all three films. I think they added positively to the book. The finale fight scenes of TBOTFA were spectacular. I did think the battle scenes were very close-quarters and some of the scale was lost (intellectually); but I imagine it's a nice way to ensure the battle didn't too-closely resemble LOTR.
Wow. Attacking Xbox Live and PSN have no real effect on the money these companies make--I'll use my PS Wallet to buy stuff in a few days, when these cybertards get bored or get caught. So, why attack the networks and ruin xmas gaming fun for so many of the very same people who would normally cheer (silently or otherwise) the hacker community? Why alienate your fan base? Absolutely ridiculous.
Admittedly, it's a little bit of a letdown (or slow-down) once you hit level 20; progression with Light is (to me, at least) very, very slow. But I was so worried about future missions off-Earth (the difficulty level, that is) that I spent a great deal of time patrolling the Cosmodrome and replaying missions at increasingly difficult levels--I hit 20 before ever getting to Venus. So, even though level progression is titanically slow, I've got the vast majority of the campaign left to play; and I really can't get over how enjoyable the small public events can be! Yes, definitely, a huge draw for me is that I can sit down and get something done in 20-30 minutes. I'm a husband and father of three, with a career, and I'm 40: finding time to finish awesome, immersive games with huge backstory and long cutscenes, bosses that require 10 playthroughs, puzzle rooms that take 15 minutes just to figure out it's a puzzle room...I love these games, but rarely have the time (and that's why I can take a year to finish one).
This is by far my favorite game right now. If you're trepidatious about playing an online-only game with other players running around while you're executing solo missions and the main campaign, put your fears to rest: the other gamers are never in the way, are often helpful. I actually look forward to Defend the Warsaw and Defeat the Extraction Crew public events: even without talking to one another everyone works together and accomplishes the mission--plus you get rewards for participating. Awesome game.
It's purely my experience; and I suppose it's advice that I personally follow. I'll be the first to admit that no instance in my life has ever put me in a position to ever need to follow that advice. I've never experienced or personally witnessed (obviously, I'm not counting videos on the news, etc.) anything remotely resembling police brutality or abuse of authority (by law enforcement), and I've never met anyone who themselves personally witnessed or experienced the same--I'm not trying to imply that it doesn't happen, only to indicate that I have a very, very limited frame of reference. With this in mind, I can have an opinion but I can't contextualize that opinion or qualify it: I never meant anyone to understand that I believe the victims of police violence or abuse of authority caused their own problems.
My experience with police forces in the US follows. My opinion: When you're polite to an officer, they're polite to you. 1% of the time this isn't true. When you're belligerent with an officer, they're belligerent with you. 99% of the time this is true. What some Americans (and internationals) are calling fear of the police, I call respect for authority (which I have). Simple rules, from my point of view: If an officer engages you, be polite and respectful. If an officer issues a directive, follow it. When an officer says, "Hands up!" don't start walking toward them! Put you hands up and be quiet. When an officer asks for ID, don't invoke the Constitution or Patrick Henry, just show them your ID. When you've broken the law, no matter how trivial or what circumstances you believe mitigate your offense, be contrite and respectful--that doesn't mean you have to admit you did or didn't do anything, but don't be deliberately stupid. When an officer tells you to calm down, or stop cursing at them, calm down and shut up: the officer's demand was explicit and black-and-white; there is absolutely zero chance that they actually meant for you to teach them all the profanities you know, and in as loud a voice as possible.
O! My Buttery Jesus! I Finally made it to the end of Chapter 10! I spent an hour trying to beat the boss only to discover that it was more a waiting game and a lot of running in circles to get past it (Laura the Spider Queen). The animations in this game are awesome the first couple times, but like in Thief 4, they get on your nerves after awhile. I've died so many times waiting for an animation to cycle: often times, you learn, playing this game, that the only way to get through it is to die a few times so you can learn the timings, including the animations! I've literally been writing down the number of seconds it takes so I can time a thing the next go-round. And yet...I keep playing. That has to say something for the game; it says nothing about me, because I've certainly quit games for good in the past.
Money allows people like me, with no hunter-gatherer skills, no craftsman skills, and no manual skills (I can't hunt or fish; I can't grow a garden to save my life; I can't build anything; and I'm not physically awesome enough to labor at a task), to exist without being royalty or indigent. I'm able to trade my soft skills (writing and programming) for credits (called dollars in my country), which I can then give to someone else who has the products of hard skills (the frying pan I need to cook my dinner). My skills aren't easily bartered to my inter-local group, but they are very easily bartered through a middleman to an extra-local or remote group. Without money and the system thereof, people like me would die off.
So...while I wait three days for Dragon Age to download, I thought I'd give this game another chance. I wish we could rename this thread: "So, you wanna play The Evil Within? Get ready to get full-up intimate with game frustration, yet find yourself drawn to continuing: it's like not being able to look away from the two-cup video..." I made it to Chapter 6, so it is definitely playable; and it's still a lot of fun, just frustrating. After a little while (and after playing in a completely dark room, which helps to dispel the letterbox effect), you learn to control around the giant protagonist eating a third of the screen--but that's OK (if you enjoy being frustrated), because the inconsistent and illogical sudden control malfunctions (they're not malfunctions, they're design 'features'), like suddenly I can't run; suddenly I go from crouched and hidden to standing in full view; suddenly I go from standing-to with the shotgun to standing-to with nothing and the empty pistol the next available activated item... So, Chapter 6: "Go ahead, buddy; I'll cover you from this rooftop with this awesome sniper rifle I just picked up!" "OK!" Proceed to run out and get shot at by numerous, high-ground positioned snipers; and no cover fire from my partner, who just f+*&ing stands there looking 'helpful'.
I really wanted to like this game, but, three chapters in and I'm quits. The problem is not necessarily the huge black letterbox bars top and bottom, and more the third person perspective: the detective simply takes up too much of the available screen. Imagine taking your TV and taping paper over a third of the screen, and then further taping paper over a third of the remaining screen. I can't see below or above myself when climbing ladders (which IRL, it's pretty damned easy to look down or up); I run into door jambs all the time because the character is on the left of the screen, but my center-of-focus is, well, in the center; I run around objects all the time because they are slightly hidden, and disappear when I get far enough away to see them; the same when I'm right on top of them. Rather than challenging, the whole control setup and FOV is frustrating. Four Stars for Potential; One Star for Execution. |
