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Wow. The Tower of Hera from A Link between Worlds may actually be some of the most fun level design I've seen in a long time.
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*Gets dressed* "Look, a Snipe!" *points as a distraction*
you know, naming your manhood is a bit childish...
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Depends on what you name it. :-)
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This one is for NH, who claims he has never heard of David Sedaris, nor the six-to-eight black men who accompany the Dutch Sinterklaas, not Sedaris' essay about it.
And, in case any of you need a good laugh this morning, here is a youtube video of Sedaris reading part of it,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPfg20k5TE8
...and the full text of the essay, from the book "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim". Read it for the bits about the blind hunters.
http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/sedaris/
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Depends on what you name it. :-)
Huh. One question. Is the adjacent companion item "Babe the Blue [redacted]"?
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Random question for today.
Why does Skald get Scribe Scroll as a bonus feat at first level.
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Crib notes for new lyrics.
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This one is for NH, who claims he has never heard of David Sedaris, nor the six-to-eight black men who accompany the Dutch Sinterklaas, not Sedaris' essay about it.
And, in case any of you need a good laugh this morning, here is a youtube video of Sedaris reading part of it,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPfg20k5TE8
...and the full text of the essay, from the book "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim". Read it for the bits about the blind hunters.
http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/sedaris/
it says that the page cannot be found.
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Depends on what you name it. :-)Huh. One question. Is the adjacent companion item "Babe the Blue [redacted]"?
Thankfully no, being married and all. :-)
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it says that the page cannot be found.This one is for NH, who claims he has never heard of David Sedaris, nor the six-to-eight black men who accompany the Dutch Sinterklaas, not Sedaris' essay about it.
And, in case any of you need a good laugh this morning, here is a youtube video of Sedaris reading part of it,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPfg20k5TE8
...and the full text of the essay, from the book "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim". Read it for the bits about the blind hunters.
http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/sedaris/
Weird. Just copied-and-pasted and both worked for me.
But need to wait for everyone to wake up before I can actually play videos... something about sleeping in on weekends that I do not understand...
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Beats me, I've been up since 6:46 which in itself is sleeping in for me.
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Okay, I've gotta share this because I think it's bloody-f!&&ing-brilliant.
We're playing this afternoon, and I've been trying to figure out how to make sure that all of the players actually get through the tree portal (Thanks, Tac) when Whingey Wizzard is deeply mistrustful of any GM plot device and is constantly second-guessing me or trying to figure out a work around. And also trying to make sure that the other NPC who appeared in the last episode does *not* go through, even though they're old friends.
So, imagine one of the big drive-through trees, like the Chandelier Tree up in the Humboldt Redwoods. Now, in the absence of photography, I'm going to suggest to my son that he grab Kyra and Merisiel and say, "Hey, Ezren, come stand in the tree with us! Lem, make a quick sketch! I want a picture of all of us together in the tree, and I can't draw it myself! C'mon, Lem, PLEASE?!?"
So he gets the bard to draw the rest of the party standing in the middle of the big tree, and then the portal activates.
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..when Whingey Wizzard is deeply mistrustful of any GM plot device and is constantly second-guessing me or trying to figure out a work around...
Oh, gods, do I know that pain...
And also trying to make sure that the other NPC who appeared in the last episode does *not* go through, even though they're old friends.
Ah, yes. Mr. "I'm going to betray/cheat/abuse every NPC we encounter in the entire AP. What do you mean you don't think I'm Good-aligned!?!? I'm abusing them for the good of the party! That's 'Good'!"
I just took to removing NPCs, rather than having them have to deal with him...
So, imagine one of the big drive-through trees, like the Chandelier Tree up in the Humboldt Redwoods. Now, in the absence of photography, I'm going to suggest to my son that he grab Kyra and Merisiel and say, "Hey, Ezren, come stand in the tree with us! Lem, make a quick sketch! I want a picture of all of us together in the tree, and I can't draw it myself! C'mon, Lem, PLEASE?!?"
So he gets the bard to draw the rest of the party standing in the middle of the big tree, and then the portal activates.
Yep. Brilliant. And works with his personality "quirks". Except I still bet he'll refuse to stand in the tree, because he will be utterly certain you're planning something there, and working with the GM rather than against the GM is against his nature...
EDIT: I mean, I'll cut him a little slack, because from what I've heard, his formative years of gaming were in an intensely adversarial GM-player setting. But if you're going to mature as a gamer, you have to be able to move past that and ask yourself, "What kind of game is this GM expecting?"
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David Sedaris is one of the few celebrities I would gush over, were I to ever meet him. It would be embarrassing. For everyone within a 1-mile radius. Like, shamefully embarrassing.
I've heard him read Six to Eight Black Men many times, and it still makes me laugh out loud.
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Except I still bet he'll refuse to stand in the tree, because he will be utterly certain you're planning something there, and working with the GM rather than against the GM is against his nature...
Then I'll just turn to my son and say, "Valeros, do you really want Ezren in the picture with you?" To which he will say, "YES!" because it's his dad, and then I just have to say, "Okay, then you can just rush up to him, grab him in a big hug, and take him back to the tree with you. Because it's funny."
Teensy Valeros will do it and think it's hysterical.
I mean, in terms of numbers, it's a Grapple check at +7 (BAB + strength, right?).
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So, I grew up on game boy Legend of Zelda cartridges (well, and Phantom Hourglass). Absolutely loved the series. I never had a Nintendo 64, however, so I never played Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask. Never had a Wii or Wii U, either, so no Twilight Princess or Skyward Sword, and only had a Gamecube and Wind Waker for a short time. Didn't get far in that game. So, for me, Legend of Zelda is a 2D series. I also haven't played it since, like, 2008. Well, I just bought a Nintendo 3DS a few weeks ago, with key intend to rectify that. It's a Hyrule model with the triforce, and as the New 3DS model, I can download from the virtual store. Haven't got anything yet, but intend to get the Legends of Zelda there eventually.
What I have right now is Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and A Link Between Worlds. Among other things (Pokemon Conquest is THE SHIZNIT). I just beat Ocarina of Time, and I have to say it didn't really do it for me. It actually doesn't feel too dated for a DS game in terms of graphics, and it wasn't bad, but the camera and controls are a bit frustrating. Also, while I understand that Ocarina of Time either invented or streamlined the Link to the Past versions of most of the core formula of Legend of Zelda, it remains that it feels like of... primitive compared to the Zelda games I remember best. That's not a point against Ocarina of Time, given that it was an earlier game, it's just something that really effects my personal enjoyment of it. On the other hand, it wasn't unfun, just frustrating (I swear it felt like a Souls game for 10 year olds sometimes), and the music is pretty amazing (Gerudo Valley Theme and Saria's Song in particular).
Now, everything I've heard about Majora's Mask sounds pretty damn cool (and a lot more interesting than Oracle of Time), but I hear it's pretty marathony, and school is picking up, so not now. Besides, I just got an hour into A Link Between Worlds, and HOLY CARP. The artwork is gorgeous, and the turn into a painting mechanic...
'Zelda is awesome.
I find OoC receives a bit more praise than it deserves these days, mostly due to nostalgia. I would say it's a good game, but, like, say, FF7, it's not the flawless masterpiece that many remember. Instead it shows a solid translation of what had been a pretty strictly top-down 2d game experience (though faking 3d in Link to the Past by different "levels" at the same time, and a jump mechanic) into a 3d mechanic, and provided the single largest bit of world-building seen since Adventure of Link.
Speaking of Adventure of Link, to be honest, really wasn't as bad as most people recall either; it just was hard, opaque, and rather repetitive. It suffers from the size of its own world and a few mechanics that are only slightly irritating that can lead to bigger frustrations later. It is... hard, though.
Wind Waker is a phenomenal open-world game for its time (admittedly, it has some strongly scripted by-the-numbers towards the beginning, but there's so much to do that if you're into "let me explore" it's great), though the decisions made by the "good guys" in the ending are at least somewhat controversial for reasons you'll see when you get there.
Legend of Zelda (the original) is a "bomb every wall, kill every enemy, try semi-random patterns" exploration game (though you might want to just snag the "correct" pattern from a guide to get through that one section I'm too sleepy to recall at present - the lost woods, maybe?).
Majora's Mask is mostly famed for its world-building, lore, dark themes, and mature concepts (as well as the "Link is Dead" theory), as well as solid gameplay... but you have to be willing to sink yourself into exploring and getting to know the world it is set in very well.
Twilight Princess is simultaneously the most beautiful and (intentionally) ugliest 'Zelda game there is. It is a wonderful experience filled with a weird combination of freedom/sandbox/exploration and rails/handholding/order... of course, something similar could be said about most of the 3d 'Zelda games, so...) It suffers from having some of the most awesome items of any of the series... and then using each exactly twice (though sometimes it requires them for heart-piece puzzles).
Skyward Sword is pretty great, but the motion controls can be rough, at times, as your reactions tend to be either faster or slower than the Wii's and, since the Wii-motes lack any sense of real weight or reality, it's sometimes hard to know where you're holding things, or at what angle. It's a lovely game that has wonderful elements to it, but if you didn't like Navi, you also won't like Fi - I think she's fine, but I understand the frustrations.
I've actually never played Phantom Hourglass or Spirit Tracks or Link Between Worlds (which, from all accounts, is the most solid), though I've wanted to - just never owned a 3ds.
Speaking of, Link to the Past is a great game, but is, from my understanding, a more primitive version of Link Between Worlds (including the world map, as the latter game explicitly and purposefully rebuilt the same world-map from the older one).
Anyway, hope that helps.
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Reaper The Extinction... Destroy world for fun and profit fun and your Horseman!
Ugh. Slept most of the day. Feeling sick. Blarg.
Ugh. Slept most of the day. Feeling sick. Blarg.
More of the same? Or is it something else?
Different. Mild fever twice.
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Entirely too congested this morning.
Also, my dad is traveling to California to visit his sisters (Mount Shasta I believe) which means we get to watch his beagle for him while he's out there. Which also means our beagle gets a solid 8 days to figure out it doesn't go in the ear (or nose).
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OK. this hits a little too close to home...
In other random news, it's rather amazing how invested people get in their favorite online games.
To make a very long and convoluted story short, Trion offered yet another limited-time currency for people who pre-ordered an expansion pack. No biggie. They do it every time. But...
For the first time in the game's history, once the offer was over, they came into everyone's account and deleted the currency. Not "converted to a different currency" as they've done in the past. Just BAM! Your digital currency is gone.
When users (us included) complained, the general response from Trion was, "We said this in our livestream and posted it in our forums. What else are we supposed to do?"
Our response of, "Er, use the exact same in-game mailing mechanism you used to send us the tickets to tell us you're deleting them, so we don't have to troll the forums looking for such things?" was met with silence from Trion, and derision from game loyalists. They accused us of throwing tantrums, not being "into" the game, etc.
Just a really, really surreal experience.
But ever since the new producer came in, they've been grasping ever-more-desperately for cash, and some of us had already been considering moving on, so we let this be our final straw.
We're moving on to Final Fantasy XIV online for a bit, as NobodysWife's heard great things about it.
Anyone play? Have opinions on it?
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Entirely too congested this morning.
Also, my dad is traveling to California to visit his sisters (Mount Shasta I believe) which means we get to watch his beagle for him while he's out there. Which also means our beagle gets a solid 8 days to figure out it doesn't go in the ear (or nose).
Wow... a member of your family will be within 200 miles of me! Small world!
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And it's just a good morning for comics all around...
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Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies by Brooke Bolander
/
This is not the story of how he killed me, thank f@+$.
/
You want that kind of h*@##*+$#, you don’t have to look far; half of modern human media revolves around it, lovingly detailed descriptions of sobbing women violated, victimized, left for the loam to cradle. Rippers, rapists, stalkers, serial killers. Real or imagined, their names get printed ten feet high on movie marquees and subway ads, the dead convenient narrative rungs for villains to climb. Heroes get names; killers get names; victims get close–ups of their opened ribcages mid–autopsy, the bloodied stumps where their wings once attached, baffled coroners making baffled phone calls to even more baffled curators at local museums. They get dissected, they get discussed, but they don’t get names or stories the audience remembers.
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I stand corrected, he'll actually be in Hemet, California.
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OK. this hits a little too close to home...
Yeah. We tried watching the first episode of "Penny Dreadful" last night on Netflix.
Opening camera shot: Mom lying next to small girl child in the dark, spooky music.Me: Okay, we're not watching this.
Spouse: Seriously?
Me: Something bad is about to happen to that little girl.
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I stand corrected, he'll actually be in Hemet, California.
Ah, 460 miles away, then. Still within the 500-mile restraining order, but I suppose I can let that pass...
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Oh by all means, stop by for a visit of you want. :-)
My dad, his sister and her husband are all retired teachers, they'll talk to anyone, for hours!
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David Sedaris is one of the few celebrities I would gush over, were I to ever meet him. It would be embarrassing. For everyone within a 1-mile radius. Like, shamefully embarrassing.
I've heard him read Six to Eight Black Men many times, and it still makes me laugh out loud.
He's amazing. I read Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls cover to cover in about a week.
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I've just eaten a caterpillar's face.
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What's this "Import Custom Avatar" thingy I see?
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What's this "Import Custom Avatar" thingy I see?
OK, what does it say about me that I can't even find the place to change my avatar any more!
I'm getting old.
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I don't understand how the avatars and aliases work either.
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OK. this hits a little too close to home...
*nods*
I've always cried when characters I liked died, it's actually unnerved people who see it, more so if we're playing a video game.
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Man.
Life never leaves you with enough time.
You know?
For example:
I still need to do two more laundry loads (one of them will likely not have that happen), put away the laundry I've already done, fix up the beds, pick up the living room, ... so that I can vacuum the living room (Daggummit, children: how you make such big messes so quickly?!) and get the recycling we've collected out early. That's in addition to getting my son 30 minutes worth of violin practice and all his homework... including two projects still left over from when he was out sick last week.
Being "out sick" for a day pretty much makes everything in your house garbage, it seems...
XD
Ugh. Slept most of the day. Feeling sick. Blarg.More of the same? Or is it something else?Different. Mild fever twice.I thought Paladins were immune to disease.
Feel better.
Thank you! Working on it. And getting there. Much better today.
... that said, I'm way too low a level and/or am probably fallen for something I no longer remember and may have never noticed; and there's no one that casts atonement around here...
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Or I might be a non-performance bard who likes to think he's a paladin and/or monk.
Or maybe just a commoner with bardic lore.
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OK. this hits a little too close to home...*nods*
I've always cried when characters I liked died, it's actually unnerved people who see it, more so if we're playing a video game.
** spoiler omitted **
American Tale is an incredibly hard experience as a father... watching Fieval throw his hat... *shudders*
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American Tale is an incredibly hard experience as a father... watching Fieval throw his hat... *shudders*OK. this hits a little too close to home...*nods*
I've always cried when characters I liked died, it's actually unnerved people who see it, more so if we're playing a video game.
** spoiler omitted **
I watched the American Tale movies way back when, but I can't really remember anything from them.
Balto on the other hand...
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What really sucks is having a near-constant headache and being off balance: it's the kind of head cold that's just mild enough to leave few symptoms, but leave you headachy, dizzy/off balance, and sweating/short of wind.
At least I was able to do a little TKD!
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American Tale is an incredibly hard experience as a father... watching Fieval throw his hat... *shudders*OK. this hits a little too close to home...*nods*
I've always cried when characters I liked died, it's actually unnerved people who see it, more so if we're playing a video game.
** spoiler omitted **
I watched the American Tale movies way back when, but I can't really remember anything from them.
Balto on the other hand...
The end of Toy Story 3 does it to me.
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Man.
Life never leaves you with enough time.
You know?
For example:
I still need to do two more laundry loads (one of them will likely not have that happen), put away the laundry I've already done, fix up the beds, pick up the living room, ... so that I can vacuum the living room (Daggummit, children: how you make such big messes so quickly?!) and get the recycling we've collected out early. That's in addition to getting my son 30 minutes worth of violin practice and all his homework... including two projects still left over from when he was out sick last week.
Being "out sick" for a day pretty much makes everything in your house garbage, it seems...
XD
You just described my entire life...