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In my mind, Vancian magic is one of the stupidest, laziest arsepulls I've ever seen in a gaming system, and I rather wish they'd thrown it out with 3.0 in favour of making the 'default' magic user use mechanics similar to the Sorcerer or the Psion. It's no harder to track a 'mana pool' than it is to track HP, and it's hella easier to balance spells and spell effects by increasing/decreasing their mana cost rather than 'spell level'.

Wanted to play a game that would allow me to blow things up and hop around like a dang fool. Just Cause 2 is good for those things. It's stress relief.

 toasteroven wrote:
Wanted to play a game that would allow me to blow things up and hop around like a dang fool. Just Cause 2 is good for those things. It's stress relief.

As is Borderlands 1 or 2, or Space Marine for that matter.

Went back to my Impossible Ironman Xcom game, lost my whole squad twice to the same mission. Pretty sure the AI is cheating at this point, there's no way that Sectoids from across the map critical my Sniper with Chameleonic skin and the sniper skill that increases defenses when in higher elevation. So, RAGE.

:( I keep meaning to try that Space Marine thing out, I've heard it's lots of fun, but I keep missing the sales.

@Frankenberry: Oh man i'm so glad i gave up playing dark souls and xcom enemy unknown (and 'within') recently to play skyrim instead. Between dark souls, xcom, xenonauts and warhammer fantasy i'm going to tear my hair out. Skyrim by comparison is a freaking cake walk most of the time. In fact things seem almost too easy and i'm only level 40 or so. I will admit dragons do take a bit to take down but i haven't even been enchanting weapons and doing mega smithing yet (craft potions and enchant stuff to buff enchanting, smithing and alchemy a ton and then wear and drink it as you're doing all this to make super gear.

If you're finding Skyrim too easy at level 40 and without exploiting the smith/alchemy/enchant nonsense, I'd suggest a few things that make it a bit harder, but a lot more fun.

1) Turn the difficulty up at least one notch from what you're currently on.

2) Find a weapon/armour set you like, and stick with it. Level 40 is so much more fun with an unenchanted self-forged Steel Sword than a Daedric Sword of Awesome!

3) Don't Fast-Travel. It makes the game feel much bigger, a lot more will happen, and it makes exploration a lot more fun.

4) Play as in-character as you can. Always try and sleep at night, for example, unless you have a good reason not to. Decide how your character would act/react and stick to that.

Alternatively, start a new game with all of these in place from the start. It totally changes the game, I think.

Also, the next jump in enemy difficulty comes at around level 46-8, so if you do keep going, things should liven up a bit soon.

Hunting in Dayz for survivors, I want to get a band of brothers up. Trying also to find a Mosin or AK to replace my stupid double rifle. At least I have a rifle.

 Frankenberry wrote:

 flamingkillamajig wrote:
Just more shenanigans in skyrim. It's rather hilarious how powerful sneaking around with a bow is. Seriously i'm one shot'ing most things and even a freaking forsworn briarheart (the leader guy) takes about 3 shots to take down if you remain stealthed during every shot. It's not always easy but it is funny when it happens and you feel awesome after doing it. I'm rather surprised just how potent bows are when you're doing the stealth route. You can get fairly close and miss a ton of shots too or alternatively kills a few guys even and barely even register as being around. Picking off guy after guy becomes fairly commonplace and hysterical. Doesn't totally replace the fun of backstabbing with a dagger but it's still awesome when you one shot most enemies anyway.

It's only too bad daggers aren't as good as the bow route with stealth. Then again if i got some invisibility potion or spell i could use that with daggers and possible muffle to become super silent and unseen and then just backstab super powerful guys for 15 times damage.

I went this route too with my most recent character and I loved it up until I had to deal with dragons. By and large the class operates like all the others, but jesus christ have I gone through arrows killing one.

Of course, right after I dealt with the most recent wyrm I watched a Let's Play where the guy leveled Conjuration and used Bound Bow - turns out the thing at like level 40ish Conjuration and 5-6 points in the tree is classified as a Daedric Bow. To think, I was so stoked when I finally got my Nightingale bow.

Might try that on another playthrough. Unfortunately I generally end up getting smithing and enchanting up to max as my first priority, then trotting round in double enchanted dragonplate (Usually either fire/frost resist or an assortment of carry capacity/sneak/fortify archery) and with a dragonbow (Soul steal and electric damage). Pretty much everything singleshots, even dragons once archery and sneak have been maxed too. I used to think the extra bonus on backstab damage you got in the stealth tree was unfair, now I realise that they need it and some amazing luck to even keep up with a good archer.

Still, I'm currently annoyed that my Fallout 3 playthrough keeps locking up so I've been heading back to Nox and remembering why I didn't play it that much. The controls are not that intuitive, and I keep dying whilst looking for the correct button for a health potion - a problem that at least I have less trouble with as a warrior, but I am really starting to hate as a wizard or conjourer.

Put a couple hours into BF4...and remembered how bad I actually am at PC shooters online. It's tough coming from a lifetime console gamer

Opposite for me. If I have to play a console shooter at someone's house I just run around throwing grenades and pistol whips. Not that I'm actually good at PC shooters, but I'm at least mechanically competent enough to try.

Debating whether or not to get System Shock 2. Considering the price tag is 10.00$ on Steam and it's one of the few horror games that does not frighten me, I might actually do that.

In the meantime, I'll just lead my dwarves in Dwarf Fortress and hope they don't accidentally flood the farming area and entrance again.

Today in 'Wargame: Red Dragon' denmark and scandinavian coalition vs denmark, sweden and norway!

It was a rather fun game actually and i was playing denmark. Their options are limited but holy crap they get a lot of em. Since it was a 2 vs 3 game we normally get like 50% extra units but denmarks already gets 50% extra so i threw down 6 freaking supply bases at our start point. My ally and friend thought it was funny. It was only against the computer but hordes upon hordes of cheap crap was sent to kill each other.

We held hard in a city and they stupidly went forward into it and into short ranged rocket fire. Our planes also bombed the ever loving sh*t out of them.

Basically the tank corpses we left on the bridge crossing for every enemy coming at us clogged the entire bridge until it quite possibly couldn't be moved through.



This wasn't even all the tanks we killed on the bridge. Basically it was pretty insane.

One of my f-16A block 5's also got 42-43 kills and my ally got about 60 something on one of his. The carnage was spectacular.

 GrimDork wrote:
I think you're beating your head against the loyalty/adherence to the D&D 2.

In his defense, the old DnDs were pretty much garbage compared to the newer ones. They have NOT aged well


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 GrimDork wrote:
Opposite for me. If I have to play a console shooter at someone's house I just run around throwing grenades and pistol whips. Not that I'm actually good at PC shooters, but I'm at least mechanically competent enough to try.

I can do okay, but compared to my performance with a(n invariably clumsy) console controller, I can practically be a wizard with a mouse and keyboard.

That's kind of what I meant. The loyalty of the game to the 2nd ed or ADnD or whichever ruleset makes it less accessible and some of the aspects of that system seem to be what were causing a lot of the problems.

-new characters are prone to being one-shot
-daily spells (though I kind of like them, I can totally understand people not doing so)
-hard to know which stats to pick and what the 'magic numbers' are w/o research
-THACO and AC go down as they get better, i think saves shrink too

Lots of stuff like that :p

 Melissia wrote:

 GrimDork wrote:
Opposite for me. If I have to play a console shooter at someone's house I just run around throwing grenades and pistol whips. Not that I'm actually good at PC shooters, but I'm at least mechanically competent enough to try.

I can do okay, but compared to my performance with a(n invariably clumsy) console controller, I can practically be a wizard with a mouse and keyboard.

Mine comes from the fact that I just started PC gaming about a year ago, and most of the PC games I own are not shooters. I'm picking up on it, but slowly

I was godlike at Star wars Battlefront II on PC a few years back.
I'm pretty good with Space Marine, TF2 and HL2 all on PC.
And I'd say I'm not half bad at console shooters. I played a great deal of Borderlands 1 on Xbone with my cousin a few week ago. I was arguably better than him. And he plays console often

Played a good amount of Shadow of Mordor tonight. It's a very fun game but I haven't had the "wow" moment I was expecting yet.

On my 360; Titanfall if the server lets me play. Otherwise Diablo III.

Started Disgaea 3 on the Vita a few days ago and have since lost a good number of hours to it. It is my first ever Disgaea game and I've really got into it. I still have a lot to learn but I have noticed there is a good amount of depth there. A great tactical rpg.

I ordered Shadow of Mordor last night after doing a small amount of research as I was unaware of it and the combat system appealed to me. Looking forward to getting started on that over the weekend.

Since Halloween is coming up, I'm having another go with Killing Floor. I take for granted that my entire family, aside from the father, play video games. Nothing quite like a 6-person Specimen hunting party to bring all of us close together.

Playing Assassin's Creed: Mordor. Fun so far.

Wasting Time In:
Star Wars: The Old Republic
ArcheAge
Everquest 2
Skyrim
Final Fantasy XIII

Soon to Acquire:
Wasteland 2

... speaking of Skyrim, if you want it to be harder, install these mods:

Requiem
Frostfall
Deadly Dragons
Deadly Traps & Diseases

... and then start a new game. Try not to freeze to death.

 Psienesis wrote:

Everquest 2

What server are you on in EQ2?

Debating whether or not to get System Shock 2. Considering the price tag is 10.00$ on Steam and it's one of the few horror games that does not frighten me, I might actually do that.

Do it
Dont forget to get these though:

http://www.shtupmod.net/

http://www.moddb.com/mods/system-shock-rebirthhigh-poly-pack

they dont make a massive difference but they are nice. And remember SS2 is a classic but its kidna clunky, you'll need a bit of patience with it but well worth it.


Currently replaying through Half Life 2. Some nice bits to it but feels like a game out of time tbh. Too many set pieces and contrived moments.

 Manchu wrote:
Played a good amount of Shadow of Mordor tonight. It's a very fun game but I haven't had the "wow" moment I was expecting yet.

So it has been released eh? Must perhaps give it a whirl some time then.

Been slugging away at my campaign as the Egyptians in Rome 2 Emperor Edition, currently embrolied in a bloody three way war against Parthia, Macromani and the armies of various roman Generals. Getting tirred of masacring said people now. I win 9 out of 10 battels but each battle leaves my armies badly blooded even with upgraded armour and weapons

 Manchu wrote:
Played a good amount of Shadow of Mordor tonight. It's a very fun game but I haven't had the "wow" moment I was expecting yet.

I'm thinking that SoM might be the first LotR game I don't bother with. To me, the whole 'mind control/zombie orc army fighting for good' is too at odds with the setting to let me enjoy what look to be fairly interesting mechanics. If it didn't have the LotR setting attached I'd probably be tempted.

On-topic, I've been playing Black Flag more lately, still being amazed after months at just how awesome it is. Great graphics/mechanics/story/genre. It has to be in contention for my favourite game of all time, up against Halo Reach and Skyrim.

 Paradigm wrote:

I'm thinking that SoM might be the first LotR game I don't bother with. To me, the whole 'mind control/zombie orc army fighting for good' is too at odds with the setting to let me enjoy what look to be fairly interesting mechanics. If it didn't have the LotR setting attached I'd probably be tempted.

This is my feeling entirely, it just stinks of attempting to 'grimdark' up Lord of The Rings.

 Compel wrote:

 Paradigm wrote:

I'm thinking that SoM might be the first LotR game I don't bother with. To me, the whole 'mind control/zombie orc army fighting for good' is too at odds with the setting to let me enjoy what look to be fairly interesting mechanics. If it didn't have the LotR setting attached I'd probably be tempted.

This is my feeling entirely, it just stinks of attempting to 'grimdark' up Lord of The Rings.

The other thing that gets me (although this is kind of a trend in LotR games over time) is the ramping up of the importance of magic. In the book, the number of individuals that can perform magic are few (Gandalf, Bombadil, Glorfindel, Galadriel, Saruman and the Nazgul off the top of my head), and often in subtle ways that are as much hints as explicit descriptions. But to satisfy the perceived requirement for a 'mage' class in modern games every LotR game since The Third Age has had more and more magic.

War in the North took a step back from this with only one playable magic-user (and she was an Elf, so it's kind-of justified) but the one before that (Conquest) had everyone and their mum's packing flaming swords, explosive arrows, lightning bolts or invisibility cloaks. From the SoM trailers it's gone far too far for me now, the whole thing of 'spirits of vengeance' and 'mind control' in the hands of a Man, the least magical of the races of Middle Earth, just annoys me.

On a side note, if you want grimdark but faithful LotR, look no further than War in the North. A ton of violence and darkness, but still true to the setting and feel.

 mega_bassist wrote:

 Psienesis wrote:

Everquest 2

What server are you on in EQ2?

Antonia Bayle

Yeah, War in The North is a good wee game and quite regularly on sale on steam for an amazing price. I wouldn't call it too grimdark though, it just focuses on the less cheery aspects that have already been established (EG the Barrowdowns).