Talk Amongst Yourselves

[clear]This is where Kotaku readers go to talk about the stuff we’re not already posting about. Think of it as the official unofficial Kotaku community forum.

I hate those ads we see this time of year that start with "there's nothing more Australian than…"

It's like they’re trying to brainwash us.

What about the hash tags on twitter saying #youknowyouraussiewhen and it has either some writing or a picture, some are just stupid

Totally. Most are stupid. I’m glad I was born here, don't get me wrong, it's a great country. But to be proud of it? Proud of something that is totally arbitrary?

You might as well be proud that the sky is blue.

I’m proud that every night the moon comes out and every day we aren't floating away due to lack of gravity

I feel a deep sense of pride that my musculature and epidermis prevent my internal organs from falling out and leaving stains on the carpet. It's a true achievement.

http://aliasalpha.customer.netspace.net.au/achievement.gif

I’m glad you brought that up. Good job skin! Nice work.

#youknowyouraussiewhen you couldn't care less about national pride.

I need to pay attention to these adverts. They might pop up on my citizenship test

Just show up for the test in a singlet and shorts with a bottle of VB and for every question write a variation of "ahh she’ll be right mate". You’ll be in like a shot

YEAH YEAH YEAH MONSTER HUNTER 4 ULTIMATE FOR THE 3DS COMING 2015 TO THE WEST

Now where my Fantasy Life at?!

On a side note, I rate your Robot Prince avatar, looking forward to the next issue of Saga!

Finally, I can tell my jerk friend to get off my back about getting MH3U.

SHIT SON SO HYPE RIGHT NOW

2015? That seems to be a ridiculously long time for it to take to be localized.

Poor old cash-strapped Capcom, they’re good for it! Honest! 😛

I’m surprised it seems like they’re publishing it themselves, rather than making Nintendo do it.

Well they’re pulling off a Bravely Default in that Japan will getting Monster Hunter 4G (the pseudo-expansion of monster hunter games always get the ‘G’ tacked on) this fall, and we’re getting the translation of 4G only a few months later.

I just wish it was on Vita instead of 3DS. I really hate everything about playing games on that system. It sits badly in the hands, is shoddily made and the hardware itself is underpowered with terrible quality screens. Plus it lacks proper control options for a game like MH.

EDIT: Oh also, despite the hardware being underpowered, the 3DS battery life is absolutely shitty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiMOKmp0uZc

Ah, I remember the comments like these when MH4 was first announced. I imagine this would be salt to the wound for those still hopeful of a Vita version.

I believe sir, that you not only have 3D on full blast and sound turned up all the way, but the screen lighting is on level 5 and you are playing a game that involes the camera and uses the controls at high speeds and frequencies. There's also something called a charger.

"There's nothing more australian than wearing a footy shirt, short shorts, ugh boots and chowing down on a six pack of beer and a meat pie while you throw another shrimp and a lamb or two and a kangaroo on the barbie and sing waltzing matilda at top of your lungs…so where the bloody hell are you?"

At home, in bed, doing none of those things, but I am looking up where to buy a kiddie pool

I salute you

You know a child can drown in just a few centimetres of water, no need to buy a pool, just use the bath

Kiddie pool is easier to remove no cleaning needed

I suppose you could wrap them up in it and toss it all away at once, makes sense I guess. I was thinking more in terms of frugality than efficient disposal.

I’m rewatching Metal Evolution because metal is better than all those things combined

There's nothing more Australian than giving your mate a handie.

If I was a millionaire I’d put that up on buses and billboards all over the country, just to make the bogans uncomfortable.

The ad campaign can just be a pair of stereotypical bogans grinning and giving a thumbs up and its only when you look a bit closer that you notice a bit of something white on their thumbs…

For the last time, it's a fucking prawn.

He might be using shrimp as a descriptive term for a short person in which case I think we should phone the police

Isn't that what Paul Hogan meant in the 1984 ad? If they had meant prawns, I’m pretty sure they would have said that….I mean, please don't call the police.

new tay! this could be the first time in years I’ve actually been around to post on the first page!Also, last night was so good! First time in months I’ve slept under the covers instead of on top of them! Didn't even need a fan! So much win!

Nope you go to the back and wait for page two!

I’m wondering if I can keep up my teetering tower of shame destroying momentum further into 2014.

Knocked over GTA 5 and Uncharted 3 this month.

Ni No Kuni and Dark Souls are next… Or maybe I should try finish Skyrim or Castlevania?

One does not simply finish Skyrim.Seriously though, are you just planning on doing the campaign?

I got it a few months after release, got very distracted with side stuff. If I remember right I’d gone about an hour past going up the huge mountain to get the final word in fus ro dah.

I want to say I’ll aim for the campaign… but knowing me I’ll get distracted by some map marker and never go back. =/

Probably max 3 hrs left if you rush it. Maybe even 2.

I need to finish at least one game this year. Also, try and platinum one measly game as well. Resogun seems the most likely

Happy New Year guys.

Woo 2000 we made it! Y2K my ass

新年快乐!

Happy New Monday

Happy New TAY.

Hi @zap!

Completely forgot there would be a new TAY today 😛

Thanks for coming over last night, Sydney TAY! ‘Twas fun. Played some Mario and Smash Bros and Cards Against Humanity and Avalon and Hanabi. All the good stuff.

Hope you had a good time, @masha2932 !

Now to start cleaning up D:

EDIT: OH YEAH! Ruffleberg and I watched the tennis and tried to convert the rest of the TAYbies into watching too. WAWRINKA!

Better watching the tennis than the cricket. One more week of misery and then England can bugger off and stop being an embarassment to me 🙂

This year seems like it could be anyone's for the rest of the year though in tennis. Murray recovering from injury, Federer looking like he's got the shape and form back to match his desire to win, Nadal and Djokovic not looking unbeatable. I’m sure something exciting happened in the women's tennis too but I pah as much attention to that as Forumla One these days

Thanks a lot for hosting and inviting us, I had a great time. You have a nice apartment too and it was really nice seeing myself part of Pow's fridge photos 🙂

I feel like I should sleep in some more but then I’d lose most of the morning if I do. Decisions decisions

To play some more Path of Exile to fill my arpg needs, or craft those blisters on my fingers with more Rocksmith? The choice is out there…

Who gets to work today?

THIS GUY! *two thumbs at myself*

*sigh*

If it makes you feel any better, I’m still laying in bed.

…wait, that wouldn't make you feel better at all.

Pez is working today too apparently. 12 hour shift! as long as you get penalty rates, I’d be happy!Does suck a bit working on holidays, but I’m sure you’ll be compensated at some stage with a day off or something! (Hopefully anyway)

What… But you told me last week you had this Monday off D= BLASPHEMY!

If it makes you feel any better at all, I had a few drinks last night and stayed up until 1:30pm playing games and watching bits of Oblivion and Westworld. Then I had a salad sandwiche and went to bed, waking up at 8am.

Oh wait, that probably doesn't make you feel better either… please disregard.

I’m alive! This is what they took out of me.

Good to see it went well. 🙂

looks like chewing gum 😛

Ha, it sort of does. That's the first time I’ve noticed that.

The dangers of swallowing chewing gum are very real.

it's either 7 years of waiting for it to pass or surgery

Why is it 7 years?

And now I get to quote one of my favourite lines from Firefly

Oh my god! It's grotesque! And look there's something in a jar.

Egads! What is it? I must have missed the leadup to this! Glad to hear you’re ok!

My nephew is having surgery today too! Fingers crossed it all goes well for him too!

It's a piece of bone. It had been free floating around my left knee for a few years and I finally had it removed.

Now you need to eat it so you can gain it's powers.

Carve runes on it and just keep it on a table as a conversation piece

ow.. I can semi imagine what that must have felt like. I shattered the cartilage in my knees when I was about 10.

My friend just gifted me Might and Magic X! OMGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!His reasoning "Man I spent more on breakfast yesterday!"

Marry that man, Welbot.

lol there was a time he probably wanted to do just that. He went through this whole bi-phase, but now he's happily in a relationship with a lovely lady!

I went through a phase where I wanted to learn to play the guitar. Same thing, I guess? XD

hahahaha perhaps! He knew it wasn't my thing at least, so he never tried to pressure me to try anything thankfully. Probably one of the reasons he's still one of my best friends!

You know you’re australian when your best mate is in love with you.

A quest for the legendary C-chord?

Being the hermit he supposedly is.. was likely a logical step in the quest to interact with a g-string!

Violin's a better choice though. That's how you get an f-hole.

Guitars have f-holes too bro.

@virus__ Well I ain't seen one 😛

Chris Cheney of The Living End, the guitars he uses Gretsch Guitars, they’re are all hollow body electrics, they have f-holes 😛 Like his signature model.

Malcolm Young is also known for playing similar models from time to time as well, they look massive on him though, it's hilarious.

They’re pretty common in hollow body electric guitars lol.

@virus__ Oh riiiiiiight. I completely forgot those exist, when I think of guitars with holes I go straight to acoustics. Forgot that electrics could be non-solid.

Something something fingering a-minor chord, too.

lol ewwwww

There's 3 shops in the entire centre open if you include mine o_O

print of pictures of Nick Cage and put them everywhere in the centre

So Coles & Woolies? What about Kmart & BWS? I’d expect them to be open.

It is 11:30 and I can still post on page 1. What is this madness?

Also I hate my neighbours. Every god damn morning there's some kind of ridiculously loud sound banging around or something at a stupid time of the morning. Can't even remember what it was this time, but 7:30 sucks.

Every morning? Jelly.

You could always put land mines around next door, it’d be one more morning woken up early by a loud noise but it may well be the last one

@dc you should skip the next HD rerelease and but some glasses instead so you can actually see HD from then onwards.

Nah, he should get the HD re-releases, then say "The HD graphics of this game are the most beautiful ever seen on a console … probably"

So Australia Day was great, alcohol, good friends, unlimited BBQ, drunk of our asses karaoke and of course the hottest 100 (even if I only knew Get Lucky in the entire 100) .

I also realised it's probably not the best thing my mate distils his own alcohol and it costs him about 20 bucks to make 5 or so litres of spirits.. You sorta just don't care cause there's just so much free rum or whiskey or whatever. HOWEVER, it's smooth and doesn't produce hangovers. So good.

This sounds like some sort of nectar of the gods! Tell your friend he must start mass production!

I’d (figuratively) kill for a hangover-free beverage!

It's the filtration process, it removes any of the nasty impurities from the alcohol, he then adds the flavours or in some cases lets some age with wood chips, I am assuming oak. His Malibu, is pretty much identical to the actual Malibu brand, was awesome in the daiquiris his wife was making.

Hola Tay

Straya.

A Monday Morning Question: Which Strayan property (other than Mad Max) needs a game?

The Sims: The Castle Edition –

The entire game is clicking a button marked "how's the serenity".

Optional sidequests involve hunting down bargains in the hope that the seller isn't dreaming.

Home and Away

You play as a young actor / actress desperately trying to make a name for yourself while saving money so you can move to Hollywood.

Assassin's Creed: Bushranger

You play Ned Kelly fighting to disrupt Templar artefact smuggling and the enslavement of the aborigines and the former convicts. Ultimately you’re defeated and captured after the siege is broken and the Templars, being dicks, ensure the fouling of your legacy by making sure that 2 of the most famous recreations of your deeds was the movie starring Mick Jagger and that piss awful animatronic thing at Glenrowan.

Bioshock: JindabyneCanberra: Roundabout simulator 2014Groote Eylandt: Survival horror

Ooh how about a survival horror where you play as a bunyip hiding from humans?

Well Civilization Australia was covered by Mark this morningA bushranger based game could work or even a merchants and marauders style game. You start as a swagman and then it's up to you how you play the game

Public holidays make TAY something something.

It's like Weekend TAY. But during the week.

That's because you can't tell the difference between a public holiday and any other day.

Thanks to Powalen for opening up his home to us and for all the taybies who came to the meat yesterday. We played some video games- 3D world and Smash Bros, some board games – Resistance: Avalon and Hanabi and enjoyed some pizza as we watched the tennis.

It was probably my last meat and thankfully it was a fun day , we left around midnight. Good times.

I got some unexpected gifts too. Shiggy and Patience got me an Australian goody bag full of various Aussie treats and an Australian flag towel. I’ll happily share them with my friends and family back home. Thanks guys. Powalen got me a photo album full of pictures of various TAYbies and most of the meats. Really great gift and having the physical photos will be great for remembering you guys. Thanks to pow and all of the rest of you who provided the photos.(There is even a surprise DC punching Shane photo)

It was nice meeting Nova's girlfriend Ash too who attended her first meat (who knows she could even take my place, you can't spell Masha without Ash 😛 ) and seeing guys like Flu and Ruffles who haven't been to meats for a while.

So many goodbye hugs too which were really appreciated.

Thanks to Nova for dropping me home as well, it was a comfy ride home and much better than taking the train.

Thanks for being good friends guys. :’-)

lol @ dc punching shane! DId this really happen?! I can't imagine dc even joke punching someone!

Ha ha, it actually happened. I think @dc has the photo on his twitter page 🙂

🙂 yeah I just saw the post from Freeze with the pic from his twitter! :0 crazy!!!

I can't tell if Advance Wars 2 is easier, or I’ve just gotten better. So far I’m mostly S-ranking everything in the campaign, with a couple of A-ranks peppered through. Can't remember how well I did in the first game, but I know back in the day it was mostly B and C.

Well, relatively, AW2 is easier than 1. AW1 has the hardest campaign, I think.

Also Grit OP.

I found more success with Colin, actually. Cheaper units meant flooding the playfield sooner and getting the jump on the enemy 😛

I just watched The Italian Job (2003). Not a bad movie, even if it has nothing much to do with the original. Pretty decent heist movie with a good cast. Good fun.

So I finished Dead Space Martyr yesterday, and I suppose I should give my thoughts.

I think EA made a good choice with Brian Evenson (a.k.a. B.K. Evenson) as the author. The man has a history of books that share many thematic elements to the Dead Space franchise. Also, he was once a Mormon, so this makes the fact that he is writing about how a cult is started just that more interesting. Their is an air of subtle philosophy and intrigue to the franchise, and their is the Dead Space disturbance factor. The book also keeps the franchise tradition of not being the least bit scary. However, the book is incredibly intriguing, just like the games. The Marker is a very interesting focal point for the series, as trying to comprehend how the Marker thinks is simultaneously futile and instrumental to how you view the franchise as a whole. The Marker is a sentient being, and watching the way it manipulates people is fascinating.

For those unfamiliar with the book, it is all about how Michael Altman formed the Church of Unitology, and how the Black Marker was cloned. The way it plays out is totally different to how you perceived it when you heard about it in the games.It has been said before, but Altman is not the man you perceived him to be. Unitologists in the games always had a air about them when they talked about Altman, and used the phrase "Altman be Praised" frequently.

It is also rather interesting seeing the Dead Space universe from the 2100's. Most of the technology from the games (RIGs, Kinesis, the mining tools) are absent, yet the book has earlier versions of those technologies. For example, instead of having RIGs inserted into the spine, people carry holopods, which are basically USB drives with Skype built into them.I have to comment that the world – at least at the beginning – is very Crichton-esque. The book is basically Sphere, except instead the thing under the sea being a magic ball that grants super powers, it's a sentient rock that spawns alien zombies and causes hallucinations.(Michael Crichton wrote Jurassic Park, Prey, Sphere, Airframe and NEXT)

However, there is one major caveat to this book. It is very slow going. The book is only 400 pages, yet is took me 26 days to finish, since I went into periods of stopping and starting reading the book. Be that as it may, I was distracted by Katawa Shoujo (yes, I am still harping on about that visual novel 10 days after reading, but it's so damn good) so that might be a fault of mine rather than Brian Evenson. Nonetheless, I am happy for having read it. It was very interesting lore piece, and I would recommend it to Dead Space fans.

I seem to recall mention in text logs during either DS1 or 2 that Altman tried to destroy the markers towards the end but the unitologists killed him and suppressed the information that he thought he was wrong about them so the cult could continue.I’ve always liked that narrative tragedy element where someone's words get perverted post mortem into pretty much the exact opposite of their meaning.

Uh, you should probably use spoiler tags. I made sure to keep my review spoiler-free, so anyone could read it.

But yeah, he was kinda killed by the Unitologists. They artificially created a necromorph brute. They combined the corpses of three people. The necromorph is named The Krax, after of the dead people used to make the monstrosity. Whilst alive, Krax killed Ada, Altman's girlfriend. So in essence, Krax killed both of them.If you care enough about the lore, I would recommend it. Or you could just get the summary from the wiki.

EDIT: What is with Kotaku and linking google image searches? They never seem to work the first time. Yet they work the second time, despite there being absolutely no change to the code. I wonder whether this glitch will get fixed at some point.

So I watched Die Hard yesterday. Very good movie. Here are a bunch a miscellaneous thoughts.-Hans Gruber was an awesome villain. Give him his detonators.-It's weird seeing some of the changes between the ’80s and now. Watching McClane smoke in the airport was weird. It was also funny hearing Argyle rave about how awesome the limousine was. Guys, it's got a car phone and a VCR! So modern!-How is this movie M-rated? It's pretty violent, and there is some harsh language. The totally pointless nudity was quite funny.-When did McClane change his shirt? It was white in one scene, and khaki in the next. On that same train of thought, why didn't he have shoes? I know he took them off to get rid of jet-lag, but why didn't he put them back on?-Everyone talks about how McClane is a super relate-able protagonist, yet he struck me as quite the arsehole.-Ellis is freaking annoying. I know he is meant to be, but how is he apparently such a good contract negotiator? I suppose people sign the contracts just to get away from him.-Whoever names their child Al Powell should be shot.-The relationship between Powell and McClane was quite interesting. They never met, they have no idea what either of them looks like, all they know is their voices. Yet they somehow recognise each other instantly when they meet. Huh?-The same goes for Gruber and McClane. They have no idea what either of them looks like, and this is exploited in a later scene. However, the voice of "Clay" was really off-putting.-How did Karl survive getting hung? It seemed like a rather pathetic attempt to give Powell an arc.-I suppose it's the best Christmas movie ever, huh?-I imagine Die Hard 2 is going to be all about how John McClane has PTSD

I can answer why it got an M rating with ease. Simply due to the fact that back in the 80's, people didn't give a shit, and the govt wasn't trying to baby us in to a politically correct and socially adjusted society. Obviously that also applys to others outside of politics, like media outlets and stuff.. but I’m sure you get the point.

YIPPEE-KI-YAY MOTHERFUCKER

Latest updates suggest that the FF Type-0 fan translation is at 99%, being tested at the moment and will probably be done next month. Also apparently it's 100% compatible with the PPSSPP emulator. \o/

Meanwhile on Saturday, Shahid from Sony was teasing some news related to the JRPG PS Vita twitter thing they did a while back. So watch as the fan translation hits 100% and then Squenix announce an official release the next day. :\

TALES!

Tales of Hearts R would be okay yeah. Or Innocence R but I hear that's not as good a game.

But I’d rather have an updated port of Type-0 or Valkyria 3 and those two were the ones that were top of the list for them apparently.

Wait… @dc met @shane !? :O

@masha2932 you should show me this punching pic!

__

@dc on Broken Age day I expect discussion and notes!

https://twitter.com/hermitdc/status/423968609438662656

@dc @greenius @freezespreston @masha2932

This is the commonly accepted pre-Photoshop version of the photo. The other one was toned down due to the potential of exposure to children (or man-children).

I love this.

A LOT.

Prooobably going to live stream Broken Age! 😀

I totally met @shane, we got on so well the Hungry Jacks lady thought we were a couple. XD

Share the link!

Went into IGA intending to buy some milk and some sausages for dinner.

Came away with that plus a whole ton of drinks (they had US import Cherry Coke Zero :O). Get home and realize I literally have nowhere to put this stuff. /o\

I need to be separated from my wallet.

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130214121847/castlevania/images/1/11/IGAPhoto.jpg

I always think of it as Iga. As in the rival clan in The Kouga Ninja Scrolls.

@greenius @sughly @ other Theatrhythm bros:http://www.siliconera.com/2014/01/26/curtain-call-trademark-filed-europe-probably-related-theatrhythm-final-fantasy/

Yessssssss

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

But… you don't have a 3DS or like Theatrhythm?

(I hope they have You’re Not Alone now!)(although the in-game version isn't as lovely as the orchestrated one)

Are they still thinking about doing Theatrhythm games for other series? Haven't heard anything about that in a while. I’d like to play a good rhythm game but I have zero attachment to Final Fantasy 😛

Doesn't matter! The music is still good as well as the gameplay!

I don't know if there's any other game franchises out there which have a musical legacy as strong as Final Fantasy does. Ys and the other Falcom series could definitely have a Theatrhythm-style game made with their stuff, and I think you could probably argue for one with Nintendo's stuff. I’d pay good money for stuff by Gust's sound team (especially if it had lots of Ar Tonelico stuff) but that's super-niche.

What other series would you want them to do it with? Genuinely curious.

Well if we’re talking hopes with no basis in reality, I’d love a proper Pokemon rhythm game 😛 (There was Harmoknight but it only had 6 or so Pokemon songs). Probably unlikely it would be Theatrhythm branded though.

But, as you suggested, I guess my most wanted would be any of Nintendos properties. Or even just a general Theatrhythm: Nintendo. They’ve made so many great tracks but have never used them in this way. I don't even know if they would be interested in negotiating that though.

Basically: I would want a good rhythm game made from the games that I actually have a connection with haha

knew this would be translated, it was only a matter of time.

3ds best console? 3ds best console.

PS4 peeps:

Does your PS4 get loud? (I assume it's the fans)

I never really noticed it until today but it was fairly loud. Makes more noise than a slim PS3 but slightly quieter than a fat 360. I haven't played any disc based games but I noticed it when I played Resogun earlier today. I didn't think it would be such a demanding game and I have played the game a few times before and never noticed the noise. It's in the low 30s today but I wasn't playing it when it was too hot (low 20s) but I guess the heat might’ve been the cause.

I’m just sussing out whether it's normal or not because I did some quick Googlings and someone said their PS4 was really loud while playing Killzone, whilst his brother's one was quiet. He also said that there could be something wrong with his PS4, which is why I’m just wondering if it's normal, or I could potentially have something wrong with my PS4. Other comments have been pretty mixed with some saying it's loud while others are saying theirs are quiet when playing the same games/doing the same things.

It has to be loud to deliver such an amazing next gen experience.

Holy shit does mine get loud. Pretty sure it's about to blink out of existence as it slips into another dimension the fans go that fast.

I think @dc has expressed concerns before regarding the noise it makes too.

Yeah, definitely. Gets so loud I tend to turn it off after a while, all paranoid that it's going to explode!

Mine gets loud occasionally, but usually quietens down pretty quickly. It's never gotten loud for long enough to concern me though.

Mine's extremely quiet, I haven't heard of them being loud, but yeah…

I haven't noticed much loudness but will pay closer attention next time I load up AC IV

Depends. GTA5 on my slim (not super slim) PS3 made the same level of noise as AC4 on PS4 without aircon. But, I don't think it's super-loud and hitting the max RPMs either.

I read the article about Justin Carmical's suicide, and I read the support in the comments. I have held back for so long due to fear, but I have to do this. Here it is:I suffer from some form of depression. I have been trying to bottle it up for years, but now it is too big of an issue to ignore. I don't know whether it has gotten worse over the years, or whether the symptoms have become more noticeable. Video games have become my go-to source for cheering me up during the dark times. Books too, but mostly video games. I suppose I should be glad I channel my depression into video games rather than food or some sort of drug. Small comfort. I have not confessed this to my family, but my father figured it out. I don't know whether he has told anyone about it. I don't know why, but I don't want him to tell anyone about it.I can't really pinpoint why I have kept this to myself. I suppose it is a part of human nature to hide your faults, or maybe it's got something to do with society. I suppose part of that is I have already been diagnosed with Asperger's, and I don't want to have another stigma attached to my name. To this day, four years after being diagnosed, I still don't think I have fully grasped the concept of my Asperger's. Having to grasp the concept of depression and and anxiety as well seems like too much. Yet, keeping it to myself seems to only have led to ruination.There are many instances when I came close to confessing. I know scree and d.c. suffer from similar problems, and when they talked about it on this forum, I wanted to say "I know what you are going through, I suffer from it myself." But I couldn't bring myself to do it.Fear has controlled me. It has subtly and sometimes not so subtly affected every decision I have made all my life. A while ago, I came to the realisation that the outside world scares the shit out of me. I can't let that continue.

I shall make coming clean about my depression to my family my new years resolution. If I don't seek help now, it's only going to get worse.

Another confession. My whole reason for posting on TAY has been to get rid of my social anxiety. Can't talk to people in real life? Practice on people on the internet. But it's become so much more than that. This is a really good community, and I am happy to be a part of it.

Pressing that "submit" button is so hard. Part of me wants to delete this post and erase it from my memory. Another part of me wants to post it for my own benefit, but for the comment to become unnoticed amongst all the other comments on TAY. I don't want to draw attention to my self. I want to crawl in the corner, unnoticed.

Writing that made me depressed. I going to play a video game to cheer me up.

I’ll just leave this here because G’Kar always makes things better.

Note to self: Babylon 5 marathon is happening soon.

Hey man, here's something most people don't know about me: I’ve got legit OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and I’ve had it since I was six. I don't think there's an aspect of my life this hasn't affected in some way. Stuff like this defines you, for better or worse. (Whether you want it to or not.) It's something that won't ever really go away, but can be managed. Learning to manage and take on your struggles instead of ignoring it is really the best thing you can do, my friend. All the best. I know a thing or two about social anxiety too. I came to TAY for similar reasons. Was so alone and isolated from the world.

Posting here is one of the best things I’ve ever done.

Last year a variety of things escalated. I was more depressed than I’ve ever been. I wasn't eating. I lost 10kg. People noticed I wasn't looking okay. Went to the doctor and got some meds. Really helped put some things in perspective and put some distance between dark times. Fuck the stigma, man. Wouldn't you prefer to be happy and stigmatized than depressed and going by unseen? I can't relate with the Aspergers thing, but I know for a fact you’re not the only one here with that. (I’ll let others reveal this for themselves if they feel comfortable.)

Also if you’re not comfortable with having a second stigma placed on you, know that it's most likely cause and effect. Not dealing with one is causing the other with an almost certainty.

TAY MENTAL ILLNESS CLUB, ASSEMBLE

We’re like the avengers, but mental?

I think Joss Whedon would actually deliver that film brilliantly

You guys and your cool club with your diagnoses. Everyone knows that the cool kids are too scared of psychs to actually go see them.

Which reminds me, I totally had a conversation with my parents where they were all like "everyone needs a psych at some point, and there no shame in it. Man, they were so helpful for us during trial-and-tribulation-fiftyeightthousand. I’m so glad I’ve been to see a psych, and that I can talk openly about it with my family." To which my response was essentially "I’m going to go to my room now, please stop being weird."

In hindsight, I think they were either trying to get me to open up to them, or trying to drop a hint. Who can really say though? Not I, for I am but a simple man.

Everyone knows that the cool kids are too scared of psychs to actually go see them.Would that be Psychophobia? It can probably be treated by a psychiatrist but… (I’ve got an appointment with mine on Thursday, I’m going to ask if I remember)

I literally had a wall built to keep my family out of my lounge room in our new house! It's not a psychological thing really, it's just a privacy thing but then I really do hate children who really like me and my computers…

Ah, in my case it's not just psychs, but doctors, dentists, physios, etc. And I’m all honesty it's not a fear so much as a general unwillingness to see them.

Which is kind of funny since my parents are doctors, and I work at a medical clinic. No issues with them on a personal scale, but it took a lot of mental effort to go see my GP (who I’ve known for 15 years or so) just to get some scripts.

That is rather odd. Then again that's the point of this whole thread so points to you!

I can definitely understand people being afraid of dentists. I’m not but having had the nastier treatments I can see how people would prefer to have their teeth fall out.

My Mum has a full on case of… Dentophobia? Whatever it is. To the point where at our work Christmas dinner she was sitting near a colleague's Dentist husband, and she found it kind of difficult. So whenever she tells me that I need a check-up I just laugh at her, since I’ve had the most recent dental care in the family.

@blaghman Kinda sounds like my mum, I was in having 5 of my wisdom teeth pulled out with what can only be described as surgical pliers, I had to have one of them sawn into bits to extract, I’d had I think 8 injections in my gums to dull the pain (and it did nothing for the noise which was really loud for the upper jaw), I walk out half an hour later to pay thebill and find that my mum is white as a sheet to the point where I nearly offered to drive home with a skull full of anaesthetic because it seemed like the safer bet.

Do we all have to have different powers? It seems a few of us have depression, I do hope we don't have to share a lycra costume because I’m 2m tall & weight 180kg, I suspect it might not fit anyone else after I’ve worn it…

Mate, I know what you’re going through. I also have Aspergers and depression, and I wasn't diagnosed with AS until I was 15. For me, games, books and music can help, but I find one of the best things to do is talking to other people, whether it is irl or online.

TAY has been a really great way of getting things of my chest that I struggle to talk about otherwise. Don't feel bad about posting stuff like this on TAY, we are here to support each other, just as much as talking about games and stuff. I hope that you can get the treatment you need and if you ever need to vent, we’re here for you.

If someone treats you differently because you have aspergers or depression, then it's them who have serious problems.I have various forms of anxiety (there is generally 5 cub-catagories), OCD and mild depression. I had 4 of the 5 different types of anxiety which is really my own fault because even though I knew something was wrong, I didn't do anything about it. I knew I had it when I was about 15 but I didn't really seek treatment until I was about 21 and couldn't live day-to-day anymore.Don't allow yourself to become that way. Be brave and go get help. Taybies will support you.

Same here, I knew I had a problem long before I dealt with it.

Don't wait for rock bottom, man!

I agree. Sometimes, you may not be able to rely on your family, but then you should rely on your friends. Lots of people have mental disorders. They’re not fictional and do not let anyone tell you otherwise.If people say it's all in your head, it's not.

Well, I mean, if we want to argue semantics, then saying that it's all in someone's head isn't necessarily that far off. It doesn't make it less real, but I’d happily argue that if someone had an issue caused by, for instance, a serotonin imbalance, then yeah, it is quite literally all in their head.

Because that's where the brain is.

Unless their brain was in their leg. Then I would lose this argument convincingly.

Or you could retort with "Yeah its all in my head, the same as your love for your children/partner/car, is that suddenly not real?"

I was really weird (I know, can you believe it??), I broke in my head when I was in a class in year 12 (some stupid life studies thing that was a total piece of crap). I remember it really well, 2/3 of the way through a lesson I just thought "you know what, I just don't care any more". I went from getting As & Bs to really not bothering, I barely passed the HSC, got a tertiary entrance rank of something like 35 (not sure if they still do them the same way, it seemed to be out of 100).

There's no denying that it completely fucked my life right there, I had no chance of getting into Uni which really didn't matter because at the time I didn't care but it's pretty much ruined my chances of ever getting a job because I have a giant gap of over 10 years on my resume between the end of high school and the start of TAFE & Uni that you can't just explain with "depression" because you’re just as likely to get a response that includes the phrase "turn that frown upside down" whereupon you are required by law to stab the responder in the eye with a fork.

The worst part was that I spent so much of that wasted decade staring blankly at the wall and crying myself to sleep and somehow assuming that this was normal. Shows how totally stupid the human brain can be with a wonky self diagnostic system…

Talking to anyone about depression whether it be face to face, over the phone or on an internet forum is a big first step to take and kudos (and an up vote to you) for doing it, but as you mentioned, other people have talked about this and you felt you couldn't talk about it at the time and to anyone reading and holding it in, that's ok too, talk about your issues when you’re ready. I won't pretend to know any of you (hopefully over time that will change), but I can already tell that this is a closeknit group who is ready and willing to support anyone about anything and as dc and ontargett have said above, posting here has helped them greatly.

I’ll also say that I don't have any severe depression, usually the good old getting fed up with work and little things in life which isn't that significant in comparison, but when I am down, it helps me to have a world to escape to, whether that be through games, books, videos or music. I guess that's why we’re all here though, we like to escape into video games every now and then (for most of us a lot more frequently). Some people will say that that's not a healthy way to deal with depression and say that you’re hiding from yourself and those around you, others will say that it's good to take your mind off things. You do whatever makes you feel happy and good about yourself though.

The hardest thing to do I’ve found though is to admit to your problems whatever they may be to those immediately around you, family and friends. Talking to a stranger though over the internet can be a lot easier as long as the stranger isn't an asshole. Back in the ‘real world’, I’ve found the best thing to do when someone's coming to you with a problem is to simply listen to what they have to say. Often they will vent out and find some solution to their issues in what they’re saying with no input from myself, sometimes I don't know what to say but that's ok as well in some way. On the internet, venting online and not getting replies can be the same as that. People are reading what you’re saying but unsure how to approach such a topic. Don't take it as people ignoring you, most of the time people are just as scared to reply to you about depression as you are to post in the first place because they don't know how to respond. The other thing to remember though is that it is harder to talk about these issues with your family compared to online, don't ask me why, it just is. I guess there's nowhere to hide when you’re face to face. Feel free to continue venting on here though 🙂

tl:dr? You’ve done a great thing in posting about your issues (it's really not a confession, you’ve done nothing wrong) and in my eyes you’ve picked a great place to talk about it. We’re not going anywhere (apart from when the servers go down, and I’ll be here to provide sarcasm 95% of the time and long winded (often directionless) serious posts the other 5%.

Close-knit group? By posting you’ve already joined 🙂

is there some kind of secret society initiation? Preferably with swollen asses and paddles

We used to have one, but then someone went and lost the Oar of Thorns. A glorious piece of work it was, brought a tear to my eye both figuratively and literally.

We could always substitute a donkey with severe allergies and an old Atari 2600 paddle controller…

I can already tell that this is a closeknit groupcertainly is, @scree was talking about knitting earlier

I had to stop knitting. D= Too hot.

It's not really the right season for a scarf

I was diagnosed with ADD in primary school I’ve been off the medication since the end of high school, was diagnosed with Aspergers in high school, and recently was diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder.My crutches have basically been animation and videogames.It's only over the last year that I started to draw just to keep my mind occupied, and I’m a bit eccentric, though I think I get that from my pa.I will say this, if you ever have doubts about expressing any kind of mental problems and are worried about anything on TAY, don't be.There's a damn good reason why this is one of the best forums around, because it feels like such a tight knit and friendly bunch.Even though I’ve never met anyone on this site, I feel like I’m in safe hands whenever I’m here.This really is a fantastic group, and you shouldn't be afraid to speak up if anything's troubling you.TAYbies care about each other. We’re always here for one another.

We should change that. You’re in melbourne, right?

Possibly, though I would prefer to wait a fortnight.

Nothing right now. I’m in the process of organising two meats but nothing that will be right now.I’ll tag you.

Cool.

I might as well just repost my comment/rant (commrant?) that I did in that thread since it pretty well says everything.

It may feel scary and humiliating as fuck to [get help] but that's because society has browbeaten you into thinking you have to deal with this shit by yourself or you’re weak.

Well fuck society.

This is the same society that has gone beyond shaming fat people and has started shaming thin people because they’re not photoshopped thin, this is the same society that kicks up a massive stink about some b-list celebrity trying to be overly sexual in a desperate grasp for fame while not giving a fuck that people are starving or being murdered or brutalised by the thousands for no reason other than they might be terrorists some time in the future, this is the same society that will happily ignore that their new phones were made by slave labour because ooh shiny, the same society that thinks that the key to finding a solution is not to look forward and work through problems but to alternate approaches every chance you get hoping that the next one will be the magic bullet that solves it all at once…

Yeah, FUCK that society. Fuck it right in the ear with a dildo made of razor wire.

Getting the help you deserve as a human so you can be happy is better than living up to the expectations of that syphilitic cockweasel any day.

Also, because I’ve kind of triggered myself writing that rant, I need some cheering up. Just in case I’m not the only one; enjoy some Mitch Benn.

Stigma about mental illness is one of the most needlessly destructive forces we’ve cooked up as a species. It's killed so many that any time someone uses depression in the colloquial "not 100% happy today" sense, I have to fight the impulse to start a detailed and increasingly vitriolic argument with them over how certain words should remain technical because they have a real meaning and cheapening them with misuse fucks people over. Most of the time I don't because that argument leads inevitably to the example of the colloquial misuse of the word theory when they mean guess which leads to idiots denying evolution because they don't understand what the word theory really means.

Bottom line: You deserve to be happy. If anyone ever implies otherwise, kick them in the dick. If they don't have one, stitch one on and then kick them in it.

It was your comment that (in combination with @pokedad's) that persuaded me to reveal this to TAY. For that, I thank you.

No problems mate! Glad I can help in my fucked up way. incidentally, the whole posting here to help get over the social anxiety thing: Totally me. Though in my case I probably meet like a dozen people a year so it's also for any social contact.

Actually, we’re pretty lucky being in Australia. Mental illness stigma is not as bad here as it is in America.

This is true, I’ve seen more than a few pretty awful things coming out of there. Also here the chances of you being murdered as a toddler by your own parents because they think you’re possessed by demons is substantially lower, so that's nice.

Realistically for everything even remotely medical we’re bloody lucky we’re not in America.

Depression is a very real medical condition and the fact that people feel ashamed of it is the real shame. You’ve done a brave and difficult thing by taking that first step, mate. Good luck on taking the next ones on the way back to good health.

The worst part is that if there's something wrong with your leg, nobody tells you to just deal, but they’ll do it with mental and emotional issues. It's total bullshit. Nobody feels they have the right to tell you that your physical pain is wrong or your fault. They don't have that right and neither do they have the right to judge your mental and emotional pain at all.

I’m glad to see you are going to speak to the people in your life and work toward getting the treatment you need. Whether you realise it or not, you lead by example. Every time someone says they aren't ashamed, it weakens the destructive wall of silence and shame surrounding depression. Good luck.

*Pats on back*

Still doesn't change anything. Even if I don't know you that well.

lol at all you weirdos around here!

Don't mind me, I just got diagnosed with Aspergers. Various things in my life came together and made it a difficult thing to notice.

You’ve come to the right place!

Any chance someone can write a free app so we can usher in world government. I feel like voting no to supplying the northern hemisphere with beer and fish’n’chips. It occurs to me we could stick a trillion dollars in a bank account and operate a free to fly global airline off the interest.

That Street Fighter rock opera is pretty great.

http://manfactory.bandcamp.com/track/the-guile-profile

Really digging this one.

Also greathttp://manfactory.bandcamp.com/track/ryus-concern

SKYYYYYRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM

Dragonborn was a good DLC.

Fur reelz

Actually, I finished the main quest but there's so much more, SO MUCH MOAR.

i never beat the main quest, i found the dark brotherhood story way more interesting.

so in my world of skyrim, the dragonborn said "fuck saving the world, i just wanna kill people."

I have read a few places that Dark Bros is more interesting.

Fer some reason this game has hooked me more than Obliv, F3 or NV.

Addicted!

Oh, and I meant the Dragonborn DLC main quest.

I been wanderin too much to finish the *main* main quest.

Think I might dor Werewolves VS Vampyres next XD

Hi late night people or whoever the hell is on at this time. I went and looked at a wall today. It was an alright wall, I guess, but once you’ve seen one painted plaster wall you’ve sort of seen them all. I have no idea why it cost me 700 yuans to see it, but hey, those crazy Chinese people, right?

It's still day time outside, Blaghs. 😛

Did you sign "Blaghman was here" on said wall?

Tempting, but no. On the actual wall there was a room dedicated for people's doodlings, and I was kind of tempted to give it the ol’ cock’n’balls treatment, but I figured that might be a tad immature.

But actually I got fleeced by some dudes in an alley yesterday, and while I should have been like, scared, or something, there was no way I was going to be threatened by two weedy Chinese dudes who were basically just shouting at me to give them money. So that's the short version of my story, what's everyone else been up to? The Powtato Mash meat was over the weekend, right? Anything interesting happen there?

Skyrim

The meat was fun and people were great as always.

My write up: http://www.kotaku.com.au/2014/01/talk-amongst-yourselves-261/comment-page-1/#comment-2376527

Powalen was surprised I bought him bananas and ice cream but I’m sure he's eating some of them now.

Well, are you @powalen ? 😛

Thanks Masha! I’m totally gutted that I can't say a proper goodbye to your face, but we’ll always have that very tight ride in the back of F4ction's car after the camping thing. And that's… Yeah, that's something.

Ha ha. No worries. You’re awesome Blaghs. You were always happy to talk and I think you never had trouble understanding my accent or when I sometimes talked in a low voice which meant I wasn't ever nervous talking with you.

😛

If it helps, you were always pretty easy to understand, and that comes from someone who is a little bit shit at listening to people, and I often have difficulties understanding what's being said, even when it comes out of my own mouth.

Pants got shot in the head with nerf guns, and I had a sticky dart stuck to my head.

For some reason despite insisting on it being shot at my head instead, no one would follow through with it.

Sorry to hear man. Hope the Estus flasks survived the mugging!

Are you okay?Seriously, though, the Estus.

Not really a mugging, just super-shonky stuff. I’m totally fine, lost 300 Yuan, but that's only $60 or so, so I’m not really hung up on it.

And yeah, *cough* there was an accident and that Estus flask I grabbed for you was lost. Such a shame. >.>

Aw man. Oh well, thanks for trying! 🙂

’bout 6pm

Don't you people judge me, just because I don't understand time zones!

Okay, actually, I’m pretty sure I’m on WA time here, but shh.

You’re in China now? :O. How long have you been on your crazy Blagh's shenanigans?

Also, Year 9 me licked the Great Wall of China.

…then later found out they put in bones and bodies when building the wall.

Did you know that fine bone china, it has real ground up bones in it to give it's extreme whiteness.

My crazy shenanigans started on the fourth of January, and I’ve been in Beijing since the evening of the 22nd. I leave tomorrow to go to Mongolia though. That should be fun. Or fucking freezing. Possibly both.

Because I’m mildly curious, do you know which part of the wall you were on? I was at Mutianyu, which is the best part of the wall due to the fact that it has a toboggany lugey track thing from the wall to the village below.

Nope, no idea 😛

My school has a campus in China so pretty much everyone in Year 9 goes there. So I guess some part of the wall where it's easy to manage a bunch of annoying teenagers 🙂

If it was that wall that everyone keeps saying is so great, you can apparently see that from space. You should have just gone there and saved a few bucks

No-one is playing Ratchet Gladiator HD online. Hmmm.

EDIT: Most people say this is the Ratchet and Clank for online multiplayer, so I find it odd nobody's online.

Really?I always thought that 3 would have been the most popular.

3 was more popular, but I think Gladiator has more modes and the planets are better suited to it (because they’ve been created with the gladiator-esque gameplay in mind).I’ve never really been a fan of 3's multiplayer, it takes too long to gettol the turrets and then it's easy once you take out the turrets. I only ever played it locally though, with a friend and I vs some bots.mGladiator was a lot of fun in co-op though.

Saw Her today. Was an excellent movie about isolation and loneliness. Arcade Fire scored it. I liked it a whole lot. Can see myself reacting in similar ways to the character if I found some thing like that who would talk to me about stuff, who psyched me up and had my back or cheered me up when I felt down. Shot beautifully too.

Go see The Wolf of Wall Street, it's an excellent movie, it is all class as well!

I will put it on the list. I gotta say, this whole "being in another country" thing makes keeping up on stuff difficult. The good news is that I have Silver Linings Playbook on my tablet, so I should watch that at some point since I’ve run out of books…

@dc

Tell me more:http://www.ozgameshop.com/ps3-games/syberia-complete-collection-game-ps3

Dunno. Wasn't the biggest fan of those games. (Artistically, they’re amazing. Just not all that great as adventure games. At least to me. I know @sughly disagrees.) There's a Syberia 3 on the way though, so this may be a prelude to that?

If you’re asking about the games themselves? They’re point and click adventure games starring Kate Walker, a lawyer tasked with tracking down the heir of an estate. She stumbles across this crazy world of machines and the like. Her trip takes her across Europe and the remnants of Soviet Union-era locales. Puzzles are pretty easy and there's not much in the way of hot spots here. Feels like you can look but can't touch.

I never finished my copy of Syberia 2 on the ps2. I think I got stuck on a puzzle in the church early on in the game. The game looked great at the time though and I think I only bought it because it was cheap and there was a cute baby mammoth on the back of the box. Was it a mammoth and does it play into the story? I was never really sure since i never got to any animals.

🙂

I never played the second game. I felt the ending of the first was perfect.

Kate abandoning her old life and joining Hans on his adventure as the train pulls away.

Puzzles easy?

Sounds like my type of AG!

Think there's some tough logic ones in there, but easy in the sense that there's not much inventory to pick up and most puzzles are self-contained.

Cool, I get thrown by those ones where you pick up an item at the start of the game and use it near the end (hyperbole)

Honestly, has way more interaction than Broken Age, which has one button interactions

Yeah, not even sure it was the interface. I just felt this disconnect from Kate. I remember at the time I blamed it on the lack of hotspots, you couldn't really bond with her cause she didn't have much to say about any thing. Also I felt the world was incredibly empty, but now I think about it… almost certainly by design… :\

There's a good chance that I wanted another Longest Journey when I played too. 😛

ALSO? BROKEN AGE THIS WEEK! WOOOO! We’ll compare notes on Saturday!

I FELT A DISCONNECT FROM YOR FACE >:-o

You could always buy #1 on GOG & see if its your kind of thing, it’ll end up costing you $10 more if you like it and buy that PS3 set, save you $20 if you don't like it and don't buy any more or cost pretty much the same if you buy all 3 on GOG

Nah, I have PCgamephobia.

Cant relax in front of a PC, will give me the wrong impression.

Truth is, too many other games I *know* I want yet, sooo…

BUY IT! BUYYYY EEEEET

It's amazing

I’d hesitate to ever recommend a point-and-click adventure game on a console though. (Though if I’m not mistaken, that's where you played Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars.)

Broken Sword 1 & 2 worked pretty well on PS1, the only real negative was a scene where you needed to use the zappy hand buzzer on a person in a relatively tight time limit. Even then it was doable, you just had to be reasonably swift.

Given an analogue controller, it might be better. Aren't there some PS3 games where a USB mouse will work?

You shouldn't. I realise mouse is better for some games but it's never bothered me.

Spent many an hour playing Red Alert with @gutsoup and friends

Well, I guess there's no fast reflex puzzles so if you’re willing to put up with the cursor stuff it should be all good!

Put up with?

I really wouldn't notice 😀

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberia_(video_game)

???

Oh fanx mayt, never fort ov dat.

Wasnt after a real humanz forts or nuffink.Wiki totlyee cuverz erryfibg i want 100% of da tyme.

Wurd!

Just finished the main story of Batman Arkham Origins. Cba doing all the piddly Riddler tasks just yet. One game off the list though, now to get on with New Vegas

New Vegas!

Are you gon check out Arkham Origins Blackgate on PSvita or 3DS?

I love it!

when I get a Vita maybe 😛 trying not to add to my list of games atm 😛

Must get back to Blackgate, I got distracted by Dark Souls & GTA Online and never got back.

D’you like it?

It's definitely not as good as the Rocksteady games, but some stuff was cool.

And the hint as to what's next is pretty exciting.

Hitman style game as a globe trotting Suicide Squad? Sign me the fuck up!

It was ok. The story took a little while to get going but panned out good. It kind of ended a bit abruptly for me though. For some reason, gliding round Gotham didn't have the same fun factor that Arkham City did, but because the Rocksteady games were so awesome it's a bit unfair to judge it against those (but not unfair in another way 😛 ).

The setup for the next game/DLC looks very interesting though. As The Joker said, "this is going to be fun"

I started a psychopath run in New Vegas.

I bludgeoned Doc Mitchell to death with my bare hands. I felt bad.I re-rolled and am now going to be a paragon of virtue with one notable exception. I still steal everything not nailed down.

I think at the end of this playthrough I might have to kill everyone left standing except for one lucky individual. Maybe that guy who has his legs broke by Caesar's Legion. Him I’ll allow to sit in his chair for the rest of New Vegas eternity

In seriousness, that first time you walk into Nipton…

Fallout 3 never gave me the "It sucks to live in post-atomic war" but New Vegas did it. After destroying all of the Legion in that town I went around and shot all the crucified people, just to give what help I could.Didn't stop me rifling through their pockets just in case they had something, though.

So I watched The Terminator. My thoughts? Eh…Really, it does not even compare to Terminator 2. Terminator 2 was amazing, but The Terminator was just kind of average. Maybe tomorrow, after I’ve had time to think on it, I will give more of my thoughts. Also, the rental dvd of Ghostbusters was… uh, busted. Sorry, @dkzeitgeist.

Some time last year I watched through The Terminator and T2, after only seeing the second beforehand. While in terms of budget and so forth the first has nothing on the second, watching it helped give me a better sense of the narrative irony at play through the first act of T2, and I think watching it improved the second movie in a lot of ways.

I honestly didn't know you could still rent DVDs that old.

Man, you can pick up the boxed set of both movies for like $9 from JB.

Do this for me.

I…I wanna do this for you.Can I do this for you?

Ugh, stupid heatwave.That's right. Another one. I have no idea how I will cope.

Fill the bathtub with cool water!

Oh man, there's some unseasonably warm weather here, too.

Rather than it being -10 or so, it's about 0. It's pretty great. :p

I’m giving serious thought to rigging up some kind of watercooling system for myself. Bucket of water, small pump and water hoses draped over my ears to conduct heat away. Shows how mad things are (or how mad I am) when I’m thinking like that…

What's with the Eastern States being so hot lately? I thought ridiculous heat was a NT / WA thing, but it's surprisingly cool here at the moment.

Loving Tearaway. Not sure why I didn't get it earlier.

I’ve heard it's a really good Vita game in terms of features it uses etc. (like the camera and rear touchpad). Apparrently it's really easy, but sometimes you just want an easy game.I might get it at some point, but I have too many agmes right now 😛

All the stuff has genuinely been made a part of the game and not just tacked on for the gimmick. It wouldn't work without it.

It's not hard in the slightest but I’m having too much fun to care.

Isn't it rather cheap as well? I seem to recall being on the verge of an impulse buy and given how shit my budget normally is I’m guessing it must be pretty reasonably priced

I picked it up retail for $30 which seems to be on the cheaper end of the spectrum?

Yeah, I’ve seen it for $40. But I think most Vita games are cheap anyway, a lot cheaper than the 3DS titles, which are usually the expensive price of $60.

So my boss thought this was a real southern cross tattoo today, she was all "Is that real?!" I reassured it wasn't had to laugh what she said next though "I thought for a moment I hired someone with a southern cross tattoo!" I mean I wouldn't dare do that to myself, it was just the best temporary tatts we had going at the ‘STRAYA day BBQ lol.

Did you burn your hand? The left side of your palm in that photo looks painful.

Oh nah, it's not. There's a shitty instagram filter applied to the pic haha.

Hey, they stole my idea!Granted, my idea was essentially Katawa Shoujo fanfic.In all seriousness, it's awesome that a game like this is being developed

Never mind.It's working.

Now being berated for not going out any seeing of the Disney movies that came out during highschool/early uni years.

Dammit I was a teenage boy, that's just what we did 😛

Which years were that for you? In all honesty you can skip whatever on earth came out between Lilo and Stitch, and… The Frog Princess. I can't think of anything from Disney itself in that period that was worth the time, though I’m sure someone can correct me.

Actually, now that I think about it, I think Enchanted was between them, and it's probably worth it, assuming D.C.'s love of it is indicative of quality. But it's not animated, so if I include it everything starts to get messy…

Let's just say that there was a dearth in stuff at a convenient time for me, but that it may be less applicable to you.

I love Enchanted, and (unlike @dc, I assume) not just for Amy Adams!

Hey, not just for Amy Adams. I loved the cheesy charm of that movie. It reminded me of The Santa Clause and Elf. Weirdness in a serious situation, etc.

Well I initially said that the last one I remembered seeing at the cinema was Prince of Egypt. But then I was corrected on that not actually being a Disney movie 😛 So then I looked up a list of Disney movies and as far as I can tell, the last one we saw was Hercules. After that it was pretty much only Pixar movies and Pirates of the Caribbean (although I never got around to seeing Wall-E or Up until ages after, DVD hires or something. Maybe even TV screenings).

Recently got around to watching Tangled, Princess and the Frog and… uh. Something else relatively recent that I missed, I think. They were on TV.

Brave?

Caught that one on the plane trip to Japan last year 😛

Also forgot that we missed Finding Nemo til some point later too.

Uh, Finding Nemo? Pirates of the Carribean? Up??!?!

Oh wait, have you excluded all Pixar related things?

That was very different than what teenage boys were doing back when I was one. I seem to recall a lot less avoiding cartoony movies and a lot more finding magazines with pictures of naked ladies in them.

Just saw 2 hours and 40 minutes of Primus, 2 x 1 hour and 20 minute sets back to back, it was amazing, those dudes are better than ever, awesome show, I hurt everywhere and it was totally worth it. Also hi again Sydney Taybies

Probably the only band I would’ve loved to’ve seen from BDO, especially at the show you were at 🙁 I’ve only seen them at Soundwave a couple of years back and it was all too short dagnabbit

Yeah, I was at that Soundwave gig, 3 songs, so dissapointing, that's why I flew to Sydney to see them

What.. 3 songs?! That is lame.

I’m tempted to go see Newsted & Megadeth in Melbourne on the 27th of Feb, where I get this money for it is another matter…

I hope you don't go just because Brisbane doesn't get that. I was hoping for Megadeth, Testament and Newsted. I would’ve gone ot Sydney for that, but just Megadeth & Newsted, nah. I’m not a fan of Volbeat.

Seriously though, I hope you find the money and have a blast. Megadeth have never failed me live

Well I have plans on going to Melbourne Soundwave as well if I can, just to see the other half of the bands I won't get to see in Brisbane lol. But saying that Alter Bridge also have a sideshow on the 26th at The Forum as well, so I kinda really wanna go to that too. Since i’ve never had the chance to see them solo *shakes fist*

Yeah Megadeth would be awesome but Newsted would also be just as good 😛

On the more mellow side, yet another Sidewave announcement that's Melbourne & Sydney only. Jimmy Eat World, Panic! & Alkaline Trio. I wouldn't be in a rush to see any of those bands but still, more and more AJ just thinks Australia is Melbourne and Sydney

It's all to do with saving money, BDO side shows are the same, there's never really any Gold Coast/Brisbane shows but plenty of Sydney Melbourne because there's a whole 5 or so days between the festivals down there and they’re traveling from Sydney to Melbourne anyway so they don't have to pay for extra freight, like they would if they decided to come back to Brisbane play a show then trek to Melbourne or back to Sydney first.

1:15am, 26 degrees.I should sleep, but I’m watching High School DxD NEW instead…

Dark Souls Progress Update:

I haven't updated since Thursday. Made a lot of progress since then. At that point I had cleared the Gargoyles, rang the bell, fucked up completely and then been raped to death by an anthropomorphic tree in the Darkroot Garden and called it quits.

I didn't actually play at all on Friday due to being exhausted, not feeling like I was in a good mindset for something as demanding as Dark Souls. So Saturday saw me spend a long time creeping around in the garden. Initially I was finding the tree people tricky, but a lot of them are possible to do a jump attack on while they’re in the ground. So that's nice. Pushed through to the hidden bonfire, then went down into the big clearing. Spent quite a while and several deaths in here before getting used to the big stone dudes. Picked up the Elite Knight set but couldn't use it due to the weight. Cleared through the first part of Darkroot and got the Wolf Ring, my first ring. Makes you glowy!

Took a few goes at the Moonlight Butterfly before I figured out a good strategy. Specifically up until this point it hadn't occurred to me that while locked onto an enemy I didn't have to aim the bow. Also took a bit to realize the proper timing of a dodge around the big beam things he does. Overall not a terrifically hard fight, I think in the end I beat him on my third go. Not sure what to do with the soul he dropped so hanging onto it for now.

After spitting at the butterfly's disintegrating corpse and declaring him a crappy Turn-A Gundam knockoff (seriously, if they didn't steal the idea from Turn-A I’d be stunned) I decided to head into the Lower Undead Burg. Proceeded through very cautiously, lots of arrows to pull specific enemies and stuff. Found the boss entrance but continued past in the hope of finding a bonfire or shortcut closer, and discovered the shortcut back to Firelink. 10 estus flasks again.

Then I tried the Capra Demon and he made me rage like crazy. Whoever decided to put that crazy fucker into such a tiny space was clearly a sadist. After about fifteen attempts, getting quite good at killing dogs, I had barely made a scratch on him. Turned in for the day.

Sunday Afternoon I had spent some time watching videos and knew I needed to hit the stairs and try and clear the dogs first. Went for my first attempt at Capra, and lucked out. Dodged his initial attack and ran up the stairs, no dogs in the way. Dogs ran up while Crapra was sitting at the bottom doing an attack sequence at the air. One swing against the first dog and the very tip of the sword hit the other one as well. Two dogs, one cut. Capra was touch and go, I basically kept distance, ran up the stairs repeatedly. Couldn't get him to do the falling attack thing consistently so just darted in after an attack chain and when I got him to about 15% just waded in and whacked him to death. Nearly died, but beat the fucker first go that day.

With Capra Demon dead, I proceeded into the Depths. Lots of hollows around and I took most out by sniping. Also managed to somehow aggro the butcher by hitting him in the face with an arrow from the third floor above him (lucky shot) and pulled him upstairs to beat him. I think this was a glitch. Cleared the second one (I was *so* happy to find out these guys were once-off enemies not respawning!). One of them dropped a sack for me to wear on my head, good for a laugh.

Spent a long time in the depths, crawling through muck and then disaster struck. A big pile of souls in my pocket, I’m dodging rats and shit when I fall through a hole I couldn't even see into a nest of four basilisks and got cursed. I haven't put any points into my HP yet I think, so half health was really pushing it, and there was no way to safely get back to my soul patch. 10k down the drain when I died. And of course, the remove curse item is 6k souls. So this required me to spend a good part of an hour grinding the mobs around Firelink to get enough souls to un-curse myself before I got annoyed and popped some of the soul items I’d been carrying to get un-cursed.

Found the secret route through to the platform where you can snipe the giant rat mini-boss from afar, then descended into the lower depths. After some very tense moments involving the basilisks in the lower area getting arrows put into them from 100m away, got my second ring, which gives health for every kill. There was still a small area I hadn't beaten including one of those mage dickheads with the trident, but found out you can snipe kill him on the way to the next boss, so did so.

Gaping Dragon looks like it stepped directly out of someone's nightmares. It's like a cross between a lizard, a centipede and an enormous fanged vagina. It's also trivially easy to beat, though I will admit I watched a video beforehand to prepare myself. Beat him second go, having mis-judged timing the first go and gotten backed into a corner, blocked in and flattened. Victory Achieved on the second go. Actually a fairly enjoyable fight aside from the fact that the boss is the most fucked up horror imaginable.

Flush with success I headed back to Firelink. I’d learned how to jump while in the Depths (why does the game not tell you basic mechanics like that? 🙁 ) and while debating where to go next as I understand Blighttown to be a pain, I thought I’d try going back to the Undead Asylum. At the very least I wanted the ring that makes the Hydra fight possible.

First I dropped off some junk at the invisible crow ghost thing's nest. Then proceeded into the asylum. Went to my original cell and discovered a black knight was right outside. Fuckage. So hard to beat 🙁 But there was gear behind him. So eventually just did a suicide run, dodge past him and run into the room to get the item (a doll? Presumably a key item) and then died. Simply not enough room to fight him and nowhere to get more room.

Subsequently I discovered there's a second one, on the slope where you first got a shield. No way to get past him easily – I tried to simply avoid him and run further and ended up aggroing the dude that gave me the Estus originally. While dodging the Black Knight, managed to end him (again) and then died. I think it took me about fifteen goes to best the Knight. Eventually noticed he was open after any thrust move, so basically kept distance with shield up, provoking either a slash or a thrust. For slash, dodge back because he just combos, but thrust was either a straight thrust or a shield bash then thrust. Shield through that, one hit, dodge back. Trick was what to do when running out of room to fight him. Crossing over was the hardest bit, died several times because I’d try and dodge past but be blocked by the tight corridor. Eventually got past, then pulled him to the upper room where I finally took him out after about a ten minute fight. First Black Knight kill. All the gear from the area was in my pockets so decided to try the boss.

I absolutely fucking suck at the Stray Demon. Eventually realized I could hide at the start to take an Estus swig, but I was finding that most of the time rather than doing his fire AoE, he’d do the ground pound thing, or I’d run into the AoE that goes backward, or he's see me, jump back and then make me dead as if you’re infront of him anywhere in that arena, the AoE will kill. Eventually gave up and went to bed. Spent some time reading strategies and decided maybe it was time to try some a new approach.

I’ve outgrown the Drake Sword. I wanted a decent Dex-based weapon. Additionally I was reading that Stray Demon is weak to bleeding damage. A good Katana seems like a nice answer but at my current point in the game the only option seems to be the Uchigatana that I’d have to kill the undead merchant for. I’d feel bad doing that. So that was off the menu. Instead I decided I’d first try and farm up a Balder Sword. Spent the next hour running through Undead Parish, beating down the Balder Knights there. Got a full set of Balder Armor, multiple rapiers, then finally the Balder Side Sword dropped. Took it back to the blacksmith and took it to +6. Attack stat wise it was just short of my Drake Sword but so much lighter that I could finally put on some gloves with it on. Additionally it scales well. By this point I’d also burned a bunch of Humanity items to raise mine to 10. The sword dropped right after I went from 8 to 10 so I’m going to say that was a good call.

Looking for a +bleed weapon to try on Stray Demon as well, I ran through the lower Undead Burg repeatedly, killing the thieves until a Bandit Knife dropped. Then went back to the Parish to grind the Balder Knights again for titanite shards and souls to buy more shards, and took the knife to +6 as well.

Then back to the Asylum. This time using the knife, I got a much better run on the Stray Demon and took him to around 25% before I got excited, stayed in too long and got butt-stomped. Subsequent three attempts were pretty terrible, but I managed to recover my soul patch each time, keeping that 10 humanity going. Finally on the fifth attempt, I got a good run (with some luck) I got hit to about 10 HP at one point, managed to estus back to full, then got hit *again* and estused again before finally getting a few good hits in. The knife was a definite good move, I think I got the bleed to proc on him about four or five times during the fight and each one shaved off around 10% of his life in addition to the strike damage. The resulting souls also got me several more Dexterity points and my Balder Sword now hits harder than the Drake Sword.

Darkroot Basin next. After a few more Parish runs so I wouldn't be going in with significant amounts of souls, I went down to the Basin. Another Black Knight between me and the bonfire. 🙁 Used the same strat as before. His attacks were a little different thanks to the halberd, but I was also hitting a lot harder with my new sword. Fairly tense fight, but beat him. Before beating Hydra though, I thought maybe I’d try Havel.

So back up through Undead Burg and everything, down through the door (I have the Master Key). Pulled him upstairs, everything going well. Dodging his attacks okay, got him with 5 or so backstabs. About 40% HP left, then my brain stopped working and I rolled INTO his club and that was it. Immediately ran out from the bonfire and the framerate suddenly glitched, dropping to single-digits and causing me to completely lose control and run right off the bridge out of the bonfire area. 6k souls and 10 humanity points stolen from me by bad coding. 🙁 I had this happen fairly consistently while trying Havel so I think the problem was it was loading in and then unloading the Darkroot Gardens.

And I just couldn't replicate my initial go at Havel. Kept fucking up embarrassingly. Then I noticed that when leaving the room at the top of the tower, he will just decide to go home suddenly, slowly walking away. Cross back into the room and he’ll follow you, even out into the staircase up from Undead Burg, but after one attack he goes back. Used this to my advantage, pelting him with arrows until he was defeated. Completely unhurt. Felt a bit like I cheated, but I clearly wasn't beating him the conventional way. His ring allowed me to upgrade my black leather set to hard leather and use the Elite Knight Helm as well, which looks pretty cool. Starting to look like a proper adventurer now.

Decided to turn in tonight before trying Hydra. Saving him for tomorrow. All prepared now, just got to execute. I’ve also decided I won't be heading on to beat Okami AmaterasuSif at this point, after reading a bit I want to do the Artorias of the Abyss DLC first for the extra lore. I’m probably not ready to fight Sif anyway. So once I clear the Hydra (which seems easy?) I’ll be heading on to fun times in Blighttown 😐

tl;dr: Since thursday update, beat Moonlight Butterfly (Turn-A Tuuurn), beat Capra Demon (this guy sucks donkeys), beat Gaping Dragon (the design of this thing is horrifying), ground a bit to get a replacement to the Drake Sword, beat my first Black Knights, beat Stray Demon using an anal bleeding strategy, beat Havel using a cowardly tactic. Hydra next.

Just a hint. If you’re not ready for Sif you are in no shape for AotA bosses. They are the most relentlessly savage bosses in the game and make every base game boss look like a joke. Especially (Boss name spoilers) Artorias and Manus.

Yeah, the AotA content is pretty damned hard and you can't do it until you get to Duke's Archives anyhow.

But if you hold off killing Sif until after it you can get a special cutscene before the boss fight if you rescue Sif during the DLC content.

Yeah I’m obviously not going there yet, got a fair bit of content to clear first. I just want to try clearing the DLC first. If I can't then I’ll do it after.

I just dropped 42,000 souls and 11 humanity and the very beginning of Blighttown. F***ing toxic throwing knives >:(I’m too afraid to try and go back and get it :'(

The beginning? Ahh that's easy. Run by everything and grab your souls, run back out and then if you die on the way back to the bonfire, its a shorter walk. Just keep an eye on your health and flask sooner rather than later so you can't be surprised and distracted at a crucial moment.

As I recall, the toxins are countered by moss you can buy from a merchant in the tunnel near the firelink shrine on the way up to the undead burg. I’m not sure when she spawns but you have to have the gate open to get to her. Gets expensive but it was the only way I got through it since even with a big shield you build up a bit of toxic damage with each hit.

Yeah I was looking at buying the blooming purple moss from her, but for 2000 souls a bunch I figured, f*** that shit, I’ll just wing it :3And my play style doesn't consist of run-in run-out tactics, it's more like, run-in and slaughter everything or die trying. I was using the damn moss, but as soon as I got rid of toxic I would be hit by another f***ing throwing knife!!! >:(

Yeah that was one of the areas that made me genuinely ragequit. I don't mind the toxic darts in principle but at least for me I was blocking them directly with a shield and they still built up damage at an alarming rate (though slightly slower). I have a slow, methodical, demolitionist playstyle so I am very careful when advancing so I can clear the areas out without taking much damage but those darts…

I found the purple moss as drops on a fair few enemies in blighttown (might be worth farming the firs few guys?) but you do tend to burn through it pretty damned fast down there.

I’m back in the asylum having just gotten the ring. The ring that removes movement penalties in water and swamps. The ring that would have been REALLY handy when I was fighting the hydra and wading through the Blighttown swamps being progressively poisoned. I’m betting there's no more water in the entire game.

They should use fan quotes about Dark Souls 1 in the marketing for DS2, if they did I think "Actually a fairly enjoyable fight aside from the fact that the boss is the most fucked up horror imaginable" would make the cut.

I managed to:-Beat moonlight butterfly-Got raped by a drake that shot lightning-on second attempt it raped itself by jumping into a hole-second drake glitch through the cliff and killed itself-i am yet to kill a drake legitimately-saw a dead dragon and laughed a bit, tried poking it with a stick like a little kid, turned out he was just sleeping, it wasn't pretty

My Dark Souls progress

Started a new game. Got up to the first boss, got that jump attack thing in and took off half his life. Still died. After that, tried again. Died even faster. Turned off and started ACIV.

The side door you run through when you first meet the asylum demon is still open, there's no shame in repeating the plunge attack if you need to, its how I killed him the first time.

Awesome write-up. Great progress!

The Stray Demon is my favourite boss in the game, because (for me, anyway) it was the tensest fight I had. I went in there drastically underlevelled on my first playthrough, completely naked and with only an un-upgraded Bandit Knife. It's the first boss battle I conquered based purely on technique rather than luck/defensive equipment, and it was unbelievably exciting.

I just chucked the disc back in… This could be dangerous and is not going to end well.

What's the price on a new Dualshock 3 these days?

Ahhhh… I don't want to get my hopes up but it does sound promising…

http://www.strategyinformer.com/pc/spacehulkdeathwing/1090/preview.html

I’ve been stung so many times before but it SOUNDS right.

Beat Bioshock Infinite on the weekend…Man dat ending!That's what i call a mind-f%&k…

Biggest mind fuck ever!

Do not read if you have not completed the game.You’re both the protagonist and antagonist.

I thought it was pretty bloody clever,But when the whole thing started with all the light houses and multiple doors,Genuis!I’ve even read conspiracies that, in this line of realities Dewitt -> Comstockbut in a different reality Dewitt -> Andrew Ryan(due to the whole being able to use the bathyspheres while rapture was in lock down which only Andrew Ryan can do)I love how they leave it up to us to interpret, and i kinda hope they leave it like that

What I’m wondering if there's a chance that there's only two characters in the entire Bioshock universe and everyone is just an alternate universe iteration of Booker or Elizabeth

Must… resist… clicking…Reply fail.

My girlfriend just loves Bioshock. Watching me play it was what made her first want to play games 🙂 With Infinite she loved it even more as my last name is Witt and her name is Elizabeth. All we need to do is get round to doing a decent cosplay of it 😀

Oh, and the game weren't too bad 😛 I’m getting annoyed waiting for the second part of Burial At Sea though.

I really shouldn't but now i want to get the Season Pass, because i want ALL THE BIOSHOCK \o/…Luckily my bank account says no, so there's that holding me back 😛

I have no idea what's going on in this trailer. I am, however, super intrigued:

http://io9.com/terry-gilliam-resurrects-colorful-dystopias-with-zero-t-1510028578

GILLIAM!

For anyone interested. 12th Doctor costume.

it's pretty rad.initially thought it was a bit too much like 11's. but I’m sort digging the subtleties of it.Doc Martins, solid shit-kicking boots. like American History X shit.The red lining of his coat, sorta seems to be a visual metaphor for what Moffatt said about 12 at times being more aggressive & almost violent.the whole thing seems to be a shout out to 3's costume as well…Still think he needs a scarf to offset the very… subdued colour scheme though.

Edit: DOCTOR WHO PAGE GET IS BEST PAGE GET.

Link seems busted, so: http://io9.com/peter-capaldis-brand-new-doctor-who-outfit-revealed-1509990371

Looks cool enough, but it does look a little cardigany.

It's all well and good, but the thing I want to see is an improvement of the writing over the last season and a bit.

I also wish they didn't announce a new doctor well before the end of the current one. I love my tv with suspense and not knowing. Matt Smith announcing he was leaving basically a year ago takes that away. The internet spoils basically everything these days.

Enough being grumpy about that though, I’ll just grump about having to wait 8 months before the new season starts 😛 What I’ve read of how he's going to play the Doctor though sounds good. No nonsense, no ‘geeky/nerdy’ness and apparently a bit rebellious (although isn't every Doctor rebellious? I’m keen to see the audience reaction to it though and how many people watched it because David Tennant or Matt Smith rather than actually watching it because it's Doctor Who

sorta looks like he could go back in time & through an unlikely turn of events, actually turn out to be Jack the Ripper.

Dracula eyebrows.

HE’S STILL NOT WEARING THE CORRECT COSTUME!

http://tinyurl.com/n7ksb8b

After all these years and they still can't get it right

I highly doubt his credentials as well. What is his doctorate in? Where did he get it?

Who knows.

Oh great! When I go around pretending to be a doctor and doing doctor things like perform open heart surgery I’m considered a "monster" and a "murderer" but when someone else pretends to be a doctor? Everyone freaking loves him!? UNBELIEVABLE!

*storms out of the room, muttering something under my breath*

I bet he does heaps good card tricks in that costume.

Looks like a toned down Pertwee, I like it.

Sony has a 2 hour press event on Thursday morning (Friday our time I think?) to talk about the ‘slimmest’ Playstation.

Predicting Vita Slim announcement. Maybe Vita TV. Also 2 hours is long enough that there's got to be some games announced too. Maybe this was the ‘soon’ that Shahid was teasing regarding the whole JRPGs on Vita thing.

Just a hardware announcement or games as well? I can't imagine they’d spend 2 hours explaining what a Playstation does

Last Guardian for Vita, PS3 and PS4!

If I had to guess, I’d say PS Vita slim also.

Is the "Vita Slim" different from the LCD revision they released a while back? Or do you mean the same thing?

Same thing. The new Vita model and the Vita TV are both currently only released in Japan and parts of Asia. Same for the 64gb Memory Card. Sony didn't want to have any mixed messaging going into the holidays, targeted the marketing 100% at PS4, and now that that's launched well it would make sense to effectively ride that success and re-launch Vita too.

At two hours though they’ve got to have some games to show off. Can't see them spending two hours talking about hardware that's already available and that publications have had access to if they wanted for a few months.

Ah, thought so. I was thinking "there's no way they would make a second revision when the first one isn't even out everywhere yet"

I hear the Slim is much better than the original, too (apart from the screen of course). Might get one eventually. Don't really care about super dooper screen quality. I have a 3DS XL after all 😛

How much thinner could the vita practically get though?

The slim model is about 30% lighter than the original I think.

Just doing some more poking around, and I wouldn't be surprised if we got a localization confirmation of Sony's monster hunter clone Freedom Wars (formerly Panopticon) since apparently the game was being shown off with an English localization at the Taipei Game Show over the weekend, but it has only been confirmed for Japan and Asia with Japanese and Chinese localizations.

Give me a freedom wars announcement and i’ll be happy, the game looks great.

Morning all! anyone listening to any decent gaming podcasts these days?

Why not listen to an all round indecent podcast?

http://dankarlszeitgeist.podbean.com/

allright ill give it a crack!

"…and then Zetrox2k was never heard from again."

"As he had fallen into deep fandom and was busy carving the word Zeitgeist into his victims."

It puts the zeitgeist on the skin…

Other than Potaku, I don't listen much to gaming podcasts. The real podcast guru is @masha2932

Guru? Ha!

I haven't been listening to any new ones but the old favourites are still there.

Weekend ConfirmedGiant BombcastIdle ThumbsGamespot GameplayGamers with jobs

I have't listened to many podcasts ately, I’ll have a huge backlog in a few weeks.

*cough*

Need a soothers?

Ha ha. How could I forget Potaku. 😛

I used to listen to Rooster Teeth, now I watch them since they livestream video and post them on youtube a week later (same goes for their more gaming-focused podcast, The Patch). I don't know if this counts as a "podcast" since I’m not sure how well they work in audio-only format anymore, but I still love the content.

There's also Internet Box which started as an RT community podcast but half the members now work for Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter so it's something of a hybrid. It's… well, it's an acquired taste. They discuss some pretty weird shit alongside gaming, and half of them are bronies as well, so while it amuses me to listen to it, I wouldn't recommend it. You just kind of have to find it on your own if you’re a sufficiently obsessed Rooster Teeth fan. Which I am.

After the Stretcho the Clown episode, I swore to wait a week and watch it with video instead.I can proudly boast that I’ve listened to 253 episodes of the RT Podcast.

I typically play games and listen to podcasts simultaneously. Here's a tip:When watching a video podcast, put the game in a windowed mode, and make the browser as big as the video. It allows you to play the game, but it allows you to turn your head slightly when something funny happens in the podcast. It saves you having to alt+tab.

Are you one of those die-hard fans that are determined to continue to call it the Drunk Tank Podcast?

I used "Drunk Tank" and "Rooster Teeth Podcast" interchangably, but I call it Drunk Tank less and less now that Geoff isn't on it anymore. I feel like Griffon leaving the company and Geoff not being on the podcast is the definitive split in the podcast era, where it opened it up more to the "new school" of RT employees. The video podcast era is a new era itself, as it seems there's a far smaller pool of regulars that the podcast draws from.The Patch has given us some pretty good variety though. I like that they’ve gotten Ryan to appear to talk up the PC side of things, and drawn on Ashley's experience from her background/connections with Xbox Australia and IGN.

I don't watch the Patch. When episode 1 came out, the damn podcast wouldn't load. I tried this several times over a month, that I got annoyed and gave up on it entirely. The gaming part of the RT podcast was always the least interesting part anyway. (at least for me)However, after listening to them try talk about the Xbone reveal, I couldn't shake off the feeling that the deal they took with Microsoft* forced them to keep any negative opinions to themselves. I heard Michael rave about how awesome it was that Dead Rising 3 went for a brown art style, and decided that I no longer could trust the opinions of the RT crew.

Maybe the Patch is good. I’d imagine that Ryan would be really funny in a podcast format, but I just can't bring myself to watch it.

*If you didn't know, a while back Microsoft updated its TOS to make machinima harder to monetise. RoosterTeeth signed some clandestine agreement to allow them to still make money off RvB.

Yeah, I know they had their own standing deal with MS (mainly for RvB I guess) and they also left the Machinima network last year or the year before. I don't think it makes Microsoft immune to criticism from them but you’ll definitely want them to take whatever they say with a grain of salt.

*cough*

HAHAHAHA, already subscribed my friend!

I regularly listen to Giant Bombcast and Weekend Confirmed, most fortnights will listen to 8-4 Play's podcast and try and listen to Potaku whenever I can as well.

I just finished all of Cox n Crendor in the Morning, and I have 2 more episodes of The TGS Podcast to go. I am considering listening to another podcast, but I am worried about having another weekly podcast that I have to keep up with. I already watch the RoosterTeeth Podcast and the Co-optional Podcast (basically just a re-branded TGS podcast) every week, and Co-optional podcasts are typically 3 hours long.I am considering listening to @dkzeitgeist's podcast.I listen to WAY too many podcasts. It's actually affecting my ability to play games, since I only play Blacklight and Saint's Row whilst listening.

EDIT: The links worked on my first attempt, and I didn't go into moderation hell! Altman be praised.

Edit's EDIT: Nope, wait, mod hell.

Heyo. Happy belated ‘Straya Day! Too bad it rained on the Sunday for us and hasn't stopped. 🙁

Still had fun – gf played in a band at a typical Aussie pub, fun times. Last night a friend came over for dinner and we played Mario Bros WiiU 3-player. Shit was intense, we couldn't stop laughing!

TAYfilm Project 2:

"Set Dress-Up!"

So Masha's scenes are done \o/ and your line suggestions were a great help! Not only that, but shooting those scenes really got us hyped for getting this movie in the bag. Expect the first teaser trailer this week to say thanks for all your help!

Turning a regular office into a police station requires a little set dressing to pull of and we need YOUR help to do that!

Send us your "mugshots", artist's impressions, or any other document we can print to decorate our fake police HQ. Stuff for desks, for pinboards, for post-its on the monitor, newspaper clippings, posters. Anything at all. Go nuts!

Upload your pics and link us below or on the Pixel-Otaku website, or attach it to an email and send it to me (doc-at-pixel-otaku.com)

Couple of post-its for the monitor:

"Call W. Shakespeare Re: Tragedy"

"Investigate missing paddle"

"Call officer Deckard re: Replicants"

"#hashtagsforharli"

Also, there should be a report somewhere on a man yelling about buildings and post apocalyptic decay

I can definitely send you a mugshot!

EDIT: Actually, tell us how you’d like them. Can't have all the mugshots looking different 😛 Maybe it’d be best to wait and do them all on set or something.

I’ll make up a template!

Cool!

Now to figure out what archetype of criminal I want to be…

Now I want to pose a Moriarty mastermind shot.

I’ll need to do some googling/tv troping before I decide. Can't think of any stereotypical villains that would suit me off the top of my head 😛

EDIT: Ooh, TV Tropes has a big list http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Criminals

Going by your Avatar alone, Dick Dastardly.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y260/Gooky/ImmaCutYou.jpg

??

BRILLIANT!

Have you guys ever used any of your uni notes/reports in the workplace?

I’m packing and I’m thinking that my initial idea to carry my uni notes was misguided. I haven't used them in the three years since I finished uni and I don't think I ever will. I haven't got any work in the marketing field though but still this stuff is taking up a large backpack and from talking to my friends many of them tell me that when you get a job you learn most of the stuff on the job.

So what do you guys think? What has been your experience using your uni stuff at work?

I used a report I’d prepared at uni for something.

Could you scan them?

Scanning them's probably the best bet. I ended up chucking mine though. I studied economics but graduated when the GFC hit so I haven't found a way to use it yet. Most things in economics come out of textbooks anyway so I kept those. Probably more encumbersome than keeping notes 😀

As red said though, scanning them's probably a far more efficient way to keep them. Better to carry a USB stick around than half a dozen folders of random notes.

I’ve never used my Uni textbooks/notes. Even at Uni, sometimes 😛 Though we’re probably in different positions because everything I need to reference is already online…

Ditch it.I’ve never refereed to my stuff once since I left uni. I suppose it depends on what your actual notes are but in comp sci the tech changes and so much is available online that looking something up in notes is pointless

The only thing I can imagine using uni notes for (or rather, uni textbooks) would be the med-sci stuff I was doing for a while.

Never used my uni stuff at work. Not even the knowledge. Well. I’ll build an access database every now and then to run more complicated SQL queries over multiple excel-imported datasets, but that's about the extent of use I get out of my uni training and honestly could’ve been replaced by a month-long Access training course paid for by work.

Most expensive piece of uselessness ever, still reducing my income in HECs fees to this date. (It doesn't help my tax that I then went and did a journalism degree as well, which I ALSO haven't used, outside of a few personal pet projects.)

Any peeps here interested in Wildstar?

Wildstar?

Upcoming MMO

F2P? P2P? Subs?

EVE style – subs and in game purchasable subs apparently.

iiiiiiinteresting

I am no MMO fanatic myself but it looks mildly interesting and I just received 3 beta keys so…

I will take one if you would be kind enough to give me one! =D

Hit me up on steam/ts later and I’ll hook a brother up.

I am TOTALLY interested in beta keys. 🙂

I’m actually back on Guild Wars 2 a fair bit now myself, between that and LoL, not enough free time for another MMO 🙁

Welp, I have 2 GB too much RAM for my OS to use. 16GB is the limit. 🙁

#FirstWorldProblems

😛

I like the added emote.

Played ACIV over the weekend. The first hour or so was a real drag and started making me hate video games. The last AC game I’ve played was Brotherhood and whilst I enjoyed it, the start of Blackflag made me think nothing at all had changed.Then the pirate side starts opening up and it gets a lot more interesting. The high wave thing got my hopes up for a highly technical experience, but unfortunately it doesn't get any more advanced than that. That said, it's still a fun experience and how the naval battles work is great (despite being able to basically cheat by boarding a boat and healing yourself and making the battles a lot easier).The onshore experience though, not much has really changed. I find 90% of the missions super tedious. It's like they expect you to play stealthily but don't really give you those tools or a decent layout to play this properly. "Marking" enemies instantly makes the screen super ugly and it's not that much help when you don't know if there is an object between you and them. I had to take out a bunch of ships to get to a particular warehouse, I jump out and see they have hostages. I sneak around perfectly, walk up behind the two gunmen and hit "X" and what happens? Instead of a double assassination I kill just one of them. The other one freaks out, kills his hostage, calls over friends, the warehouse empties and I’m told to come back again later. Can I just reload this sequence and try again? NO. Urgh. Such a pain in the ass.

That said, still a good game. I’ll probably sit out the next few instalments though. It does have me wishing for a really indepth Pirate game though. I want one where you can manage your crew, deciding on their roles based on their strengths. I also want to have to learn how to deal with wind direction and currents. I don't want to know where I am on a map either, navigation should be difficult – relying on landmarks and using the stars. 90% of sailing in Blackflag is just staring at your minimap.

Some more points:

*Travel speed turns of sound and just leaves the shanties on. It makes it super weird and kind of creepy. I wish it didn't do this.*Walking is too slow and running is too imprecise. Running up to chests is too imprecise.*Chaining running assassinations together is an awesome feeling.

*Travel speed turns of sound and just leaves the shanties on. It makes it super weird and kind of creepy. I wish it didn't do this.

… The sea shanties are one of the best things about AssPirates.

I completely agree but when they turn off the rest of the sound it sounds weird. I see the ship and sea sounds as the "music" to the shanties.

That might be a bug… I still got sea sounds and ship-creaking and all that other stuff. And yes, it was completely critical to the experience. I heard someone rip the shanties out of the game files and post them on youtube and it REALLY wasn't the same without the sea sounds.

Really? That's pretty interesting. I’m playing the Xbox 360 version and it's not online, so I could be missing any patches they released.

I have PS4 version and all other sounds are muted or at 10% of the original volume.

I enjoyed it far more once I stopped bothering with stealth unless I was being forced to. Blitzing groups is surprisingly effective. Charge in at full tilt and you can usually assassinate half to 3/4 of the group before they even get their weapons out.

I am a fan of this, but when they have hostages or there's a warehouse it fails the "mission", Smoke bombs definitely speed things up a lot as well.

So pretty much like my opinion? That's it's yet another shitty Assassin's Creed franchise game, however it's got a main pirate dude who doesn't give a fuck about assasins and he sails the open seas. Yeah?

Yeah I think so.

As far as I can tell, the story is so uninteresting that I barely pay attention and when I think I am paying attention it doesn't make any sense at all. This is probably my fault for not paying attention though. I’m sure there is some logic running through this. Right now I don't feel compelled to do any of the main missions, except that it opens up more upgrades. All I’m doing now is taking over these laughably easy forts and taking out naval vessels so I can upgrade my hull.

Hmm. Looking at price of flights to Japan it looks like Jetstar regularly have direct flights from Gold Coast to Japan for $200.

Might be worth keeping an eye on @novacascade, @negativezero, @jocon, @transientmind.

Yeah, it’ll be interesting to see if that's still a thing in 2015. Fingers crossed. Gold Coast is practically next-door, that’d be great to shave a thousand or two off the trip.

Yeah, but they rarely put them on sale now at good times of the year. Even rarer is the time where business goes on special.

Ah crap. @novacascade, still need to send my forms & deposit. Kept getting sidetracked. This week, promise.

EDIT: For me I suspect that the internal flight from Melbourne to the Gold Coast would vastly offset the cost of the Japan leg of it. Domestic flights are often a pain in the ass cost-wise.

About $130 for Melbourne to Coolangatta.

Really? They’re 60-80 bucks if you can pick up an 8am flight from Coolangatta, usually monday & tuesday they’re that price.

I just picked a day for the end of March and went with those prices.

That's ok, still plenty of space. 🙂

You always have to be careful with Jetstar. They advertise these cheap fares, but it almost never ends up being a decent deal. The fare will likely be one way, only on certain dates, and won't include taxes, fees, baggage, meals, entertainment etc etc. And if you want all that it ends up costing the same or more than a full service airline.

I’ll certainly keep it in mind once we get into booking range though. Thanks 🙂

Alright, I’ll be wondering around Sydney for the next 5 hours, I’m sure to get lost several timesIf .ny Sydney folks see a long haired dudeZiltoid shirt looking confused be sure to say hi. Sorry this was posted from a phone andIf and might come out weird

Where in Sydney are you wandering around?

Probably around Chinatown / Paddy's markets area, I don't know the place very well.

I would offer to come have lunch with you but I have a work thing on.You should checkout Comic Kingdom on Liverpool St, if that's your thing. It's pretty close to chinatown.

Man, the guy who actively avoided going to meats for months puts out an invitation to talk. You’ve changed. 😛

Sydney is scary, anything familiar would be comforting, even if I’ve never met them

Have you been to Kino yet? 😮

Aah, that was the name. Heading there right now, thanks

Just in case: Kinokuniya! Top floor of The Galeries near Town Hall.

I was incompetant and wondered around near town hall and didn't find it, oh we I found some other cool stuff, next time I’ll arrange for someone to take me around :P.

There is a cool games/figurine shop on the first or second floor of paddy's markets centre. I’m positive you can get everything cheaper online but if you’re looking to kill time it could serve. There is a timezone on the top level. With Dodgem cars!

I think I stumbled across that, very overpriced but had some awesome figures, I must have stared at a 40 inch Ermac statue for like 10 minutes

Hey hey hey, a new Dota patch! fun times by all. New mode? great. Lion getting a scepter ability? why the hell not. New dude? He looks ballin-

"RANDOM ABILITY DRAFT"

OHHHHH MYYYY GOOOOODDDDD

EDIT: wow, and as usual the multiple changes that AREN’T headlining the patches are game changers. For one, you lose gold if you don't choose a hero after the timer ends in all pick mode. That's nuts!

Random ability draft is gonna be nuts.

Brood got nerfed into shit.ES is slightly less bullshit.no mana cost for blink.plus more good stuff.

pretty great patch.

The gold for not picking a hero is a major fix because All Pick seems to have devolved into one person instalocking and then everyone playing chicken with their picks so that they don't get counter-picked.

Also, GG branches now only cost 50g. Fucking win!

I hope all are well post long weekend shenanigans.

On the weekend I got the Master Sword in a Link to the Past, first time for me in any Zelda game \o/Played a bit of GTA5's single player after months of leaving it alone. Pretty much since online was released.Read a pretty disturbing chapter in A Dance with Dragons – Game of Thrones book 5.Reek I – What a horrible fate for poor Theon Greyjoy. Granted he deserved punishment for his crimes but wow. The torture he's been through sounds horrendous. Trying to bite your finger off to relieve pain because it has been skinned and left exposed to dry, crack and fester. The first line in the chapter sums up what is to come. The rat squealed as he bit into it, squirming wildly in his hands, frantic to escape. The belly was the softest part. He tore at the sweet meat, the warm blood running over his lips. It was so good that it brought tears to his eyes. His belly rumbled and he swallowed. By the third bite the rat had ceased to struggle, and he was feeling almost content. Brutal.

Rhymes with leek

Rhymes with bleak

I’m quite curious to see what happens to this wretched soul. I’m thinking either death while screaming or slight redemption before death.

Random Recommendation time: I’m reading Hugh Howey's "Wool" at the moment, and it's really good. Reminds me a lot of Fallout- it's set in a Silo, where the ultimate death sentence is being forced to go outside and clean the lenses on the sensors.

I think the first chapter or so is free on Amazon, except if your Amazon is doing screwy things like changing to Australia gouging.

Why is it called Wool?

Because that's what you use to clean the lenses. It's a bit of an artifact title, but the author (rightly) refuses to change it because that’d wipe all of the Amazon reviews, and it was originally self published as a series of novellas.

Talking of things that remind you of Fallout, we watched Blast From The Past over the weekend. Starts off with a 1950s Christopher Walken going into a fallout shelter. Then it turns into an average boy-meets-girl film with Brendan Fraser. Basically, just watch the first bit

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is 20 bucks on the eshop.

Oh gods.

US only?

I think so? That concerning detail might be a bit important to you guys.

http://i.imgur.com/uydLP6Q.jpg

Apparently for Europe it starts Friday and goes til the 6th, but it's only 40% off.

Wow, I guess us filthy peasants outside of the US don't deserve as much as a discount. =/

Sweet as, I’m after this game too. Wasn't sold on a A$69.95 price however.

Nintedo fans!

I got an email yesterday about a survey for the WiiU, probably so they can gauge why exactly they have such dismal sales.

Anyways, some interesting stuff popped up about future game releases:– Hyrule Warriors (tentative title) – no console mentioned– New Zelda game, for WiiU

I may have heard a murmor about Hyrule, but I definitely don't know anything about a brand new Zelda!

The in-production Zelda has been talked about for quite a while for some reason, even though its release is far off in the distance somewhere. Then they put out WWHD to tide us over or something.

I hope they make the next Zelda a sequel to Majoras Mask.

I hope they don't shove Wii-mote down my throat!

So much this. Let me play with a proper control again Nintendo and you’ll have all my love back, albeit with a tinge of cautious suspicion.

After Skyward Sword I don't know that I actually want a new 3D Zelda from the core team. What would make me buy a WiiU would be a new Metroid Prime and/or X releasing in English (assuming X isn't a monster hunter clone and is actually a proper RPG like Xenoblade was)

If they bring motion controlled swordplay back: excellent. If they instead focus on gamepad + dual screen: awesome.

If they release a game that only uses standard buttons and TV mirroring on the Gamepad: Ugh.

80s cartoon nostalgiaJust saw this game http://store.steampowered.com/app/267060/ on steam and I’m not sure I want the game at all but the trailer has such nostalgia that I’m tempted to buy it

I think I might have to dig up my 80s cartoons tonight

Well the game looks awful but the style is awesome

Dave Chappelle in Brisbane sold out in 4 minutes this morning. I guess that decides whether I go or not

Whenever @dc's not on screen, all the other characters should be asking "Where's DC?"

More @dc? More of the time?

When’re they gonna get to the firework factory??????

Does he have an evil/good twin brother called AC?

@dc has to go now, his planet needs him.

So I played my first round of the beta PnP RPG that my friend cooked up and I didn't really enjoy it. In case everyone hasn't noticed, I’m solidly wedded to RPGs so for me to not like it is really weird.

I think the reason why I didn't like it is that my friend (who has a huge stonking ego) concocted this elaborate storyline with onion level of layers and twists and then proceeded to gently rib the people who were playing when we were being overly cautious and trying to leave no stone unturned. I was coming up with devil's advocate and off the wall ideas about how things happened and I know it was stupid of me but considering anything is possible I chose to be the person who drinks from the crazy pool of ideas.

The story all culminated with us catching a glimpse of a witch-like figure who had just murdered a bunch of people and had branded one of them with a mark. My friend (the GM) said that this mark was similar to a mark that had been branded on a bunch of possessed goblins that we had fought earlier and that had been tied to a witch in my backstory. My first thought was that it might be an accomplice or that the witch had joined a coven but he said that no it was the witch as you would have recognised her skull-white hair. I countered that as the first time I interacted with her was when she was a disembodied voice and the first time I actually saw her was when she appeared in an incorporeal form (spectre-like). Unless being incorporeal allows colours, how was I supposed to recognise what she looked like from her ghost form?

I guess it was one of those situations where my friend felt really clever with everything that he had come up with and couldn't realise that other people couldn't see it as clearly as him. Probably because he knew exactly where we had to go and yet he was surprised when we wanted to tie up a number of loose ends. He needs to work on separating his GM knowledge from his narrator knowledge. /Endrant

What was the system like?

Basically rejigged the WH40K stuff (d100) into a custom setting and wrote a bunch of classes and races to match. He essentially created his own version of Warhammer Fantasy.

It's my feeling that RPGs as a hobby is moving away from high-dice, crunchy games to simpler systems.

I can appreciate both styles of RPGs as I’m sure most people can. A lot of the joy that people gain from playing comes from how the GM conducts the setting, the characters, and tells the story and I guess that that is what I’m feeling let down by in his game.

On a related note, kudos to you for keeping a level head with our shenanigans in Numenera and ensuring that everything is coherent and relateable. I imagine the difficulties that running an online only game are vastly different to a real life game.

I think I explained int he first session, but I prefer to operate on the "Rule of Cool" when I GM- I’m happy to wave away mechanics and details if I think it's a better story or it helps the flow. There are occasions where I’ll try and push people on if there's too much dallying (like the other night when people were trying to find out why the pub was named what it was) but I generally feel if the players are having fun (Which I hope you all are) it's a winner.

If I wanted to write a story and have people act it out without deviation, I’d write a play.

And I guess that's what I struggled with the most on the weekend. There were numerous occasions where I had to suppress my urge to make choo-choo noises as we were being overtly railroaded into going in a certain direction and pursuing a certain goal. I’m sure you know what it's like as it is never fun to be on the receiving end.

Numenera as a system allows and expects a lot more fluidity in the storyline which lends itself greatly to avoiding railroading. The current story arc we’re on has an end point somewhere along the way but you’ve done a great job in giving us a variety of options to reach that point rather than restricting us to Option A or Option B. 🙂

Oh god, if I’d tried to railroad you lot you would have been slaughtered by the Cantharx three sessions ago.

@redartifice I liked the Cantharx, they were really cool in a mysterious way 🙂

@tech_knight It was heavily cribbed from the Weaver in China Mieville's Perdido Street Station, with a couple of things changed to fit the setting and make it a little easier to interact with- the Weaver speaks entirely in free-verse poetry, which I wasn't going to attempt!

@redartifice surprised you didn't ask us to roll a fear check on that O_O some of the pics on that are creepy

@tech_knight I wanted to focus less on the malice, and more on its ineffability- the Cantharx isn't necessarily evil or malicious, it's just working from a very different morality.

There's nothing worse than a GM tring to force story down the players throat, i try to avoid it as much as possible when i GM.

Out of curiosity, what do you usually GM/play? I don't think I’ve spoken to you much about RPGs so it's always nice to know other afficionados. 🙂

I don't have a current group, but i’ve mostly played and GM’ed DnD 4e and Gamma world (which is also 4e). i’ve also had short stints in FATE core and Hero System.

sadly i’m the most passionate of my friends, and every time we start a group everyone else seems to lose interest after a few months of weekly sessions. I’ve got a lot of friends who aren't big role-playing fans, but refuse to be left out…

Ah that's a bugger. I was in a similar spot a couple of years back before I met some more people who played a bit more regularly. I’m a diehard myself so it's all good here. 🙂

Personally I’ve played DnD 3.5, 4e, Pathfinder, Star Wars d20 (Revised Core), Numenera, and 40K Only War. I’m looking at other systems and styles of games so I’m trying to get better at being a player and GMing myself and I am currently on the interest/hype train of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying 2nd Edition (two more weeks until I get the book, so excited XD).

There are a bunch of us who play and talk about RPGs so if you are throwing around ideas or even looking for players for an online-correspondence/Roll20 or equivalent game, I’m sure there’d be a few of us that might be interested.

If you’re bored, watch The Pixar Theory:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IqvLA-PeM4

It's the notion that all Pixar movies are in the same universe. Parts are a bit of a stretch but overall it comes together in a pretty interesting way.

The theory is that Boo discovered a way to use doors to travel through time on her own, possibly by developing magic on her own. And then she probably went back into the Dark Ages to learn more magic from the will of the wisps.

Yes, quite a stretch.

I think so far this month, I’ve finished just as many games as I did all last year.umm…. 2.Max Payne 3 & Splinter Cell : Blacklist.I’m doing games wrong.

anyway. next on the list is Dragon Age Origins. really like the game, but just never got around to finishing it.

Protip: If you’re looking to count finished games, you’ll get a higher tally with shorter games (i.e. not Dragon Age :P)

oh, I’m not really counting. it was just an observation about my gaming habits. I get into something, then get distracted by something new & my pile of shame claims another victim.

though I get what you mean. I’ve also got Ni No Kuni, Lost Odyssey, & the remainder of Bravely Default on my list of things that I’d like to finally get around to finishing.

It's a common thing to do I’ve found. With me, I reckon it's due to me buying games that’re usually 20+ hours minimum of gameplay so chances are after 4-5 times of being able to play a game my interest wanes and I go to something else. That or when I do have an extended period of time to play a game I’m in a different mood and want to play something else. Over the weekend I booted up New Vegas, Skyrim, Civ V and Medieval 2 Total War and I didn't even play any of them, just exited as soon as I got to the main menu. I have gaming ADD.

I did finish Batman Arkham Origins though. My plan was to go straight onto the next game but I might continue with it and complete all the single player bits n bobs. Then I might pick through the smaller games and complete those. I won't, I’ll get distracted and change games 5 times before settling on watching TV, but it's nice to have a plan to start off with

Oh god, as much as I love them I am TERRIBLE at finishing games in favour of the next new shiny. And yeah I totally never finished Ni No Kuni and Lost Odyssey. JRPGs in particular seem to be my achilles heel. Also have to finish The Last Remnant, Tales of Vesperia, Magna Carta 2, Eternal Sonata, Star Ocean, Resonance of Fate…

oh shit. you just reminded me that I wanna finish Eternal Sonata & Blue Dragon, too….

Finished Gears of War: Judgement (YES, I’M GOING TO INCLUDE THE DAMNED ‘E’, BECAUSE SCREW AMERICAN SPELLINGS) from start to finish co-op with a friend yesterday.It was pretty average. By breaking the game down into rather small (usually single encounter) sections, it completely lost any sense of scale or continuity for me. I easily lost track of the story a few times, motives weren't clearly developed…I did like the declassified missions – basically extra constraints that modify the level, such as reduced visibility, lower amunition, restricted weapons choices, etc. They added a bit of difficulty and challenge to the game.But yeah, overall a very underwhelming game.Perhaps it was due to People Can Fly taking over for Judgement – I really loved Bulletstorm, but I don't think that PCF's style translates over to Gears that well.

Can someone please explain to me what the current trend of women shaving their eyebrows and drawing ones in is about?

Funny you should say that, on the train this morning there was a woman with drawn-on eyebrows, but she drew them as a row of dots. Looked strange (but oddly kind of cool :P)

Soon they’ll be drawing their own hair after shaving their heads 😛Artists! \o/

Of course, the solution was staring me in the face all along!

Inspiration from Milhouse's mum.

Were they at least slanty Vulcan eyebrows?

I don't know but my gfs mum went to china for a holiday and all her eyebrows and parts of her hair had fallen out. No idea why, but it's all growing back now.

Trying to mimic Amanda Palmer?Oh wait, she shaved hers off and permanently tattooed them on.

Pretty sure she just draws them on. Granted she has a specific design that she does every time, but they’re not tattoos. I think you can see her (kind of) do this in the video for her song Girl Anachronism, but that's a pretty old video at this point so it's possible she's had them tattooed since – but I think it's unlikely.

I’d google that to verify but Amanda Palmer is so frequently associated with nudity and profanity that I’m afraid to do it at work.

@kermitron Exactly why I haven't googled it either.I’ll take your word for it when you finish researching. *ahem*.

My girl's are kinda thick, naturally and she reckon it's a major annoyance trying to keep them trimmed down to an aesthetically-pleasing ‘thin’. Too thick is unacceptable, as is shaved completely… but walking that line is more finicky than straight-shaving and drawing?

Am I the only one completely disinterested when reading that Microsoft now owns Gears of War and will make more games? I feel like the franchise ended with the third game and I don't particularly want any more of it.

Well I’m more in the mindset of a "wait and see what they end up doing with it" kind of thing. Who knows what will change with a new owner.

I don't have any strong feelings one way or another. I like the games well enough, but it was never a franchise I was mega into in the same way I’m into Halo or Mass Effect. If they make more games and they turn out awesome then that's great. If they make more games and they turn out average or worse then it doesn't really bother me; I just won't play them.

I didn't know any better – because it was a 360/PC exclusive, I assumed they always owned it 😛

It was a first-party IP (I think) published by Microsoft or something. Like how Ratchet and Clank and Uncharted are Sony first-party IP's, made by a different developer. Unless I’ve misunderstood what a first-party IP is 😛

After playing GoW:Judgment yesterday, I’m pretty ‘meh’ about the franchise at the moment.1,2,3 were very enjoyable, and I’m fine with the series ending there.

I played the first one (co-op with some friends, somehow got through the entire thing :/) and thought it was the most unenjoyable gaming experience I’ve ever had. And ever since have not cared about anything to do with the series 😛

I played the first one co-op too, and had some enjoyable moments… I really dug the setting and the lore, as much as they presented, anyway. But there were some pretty annoying mechanics and fights, and at the end of it – the last boss especially – I was kinda just glad that it was finally over. I can't imagine how anyone would play it single-player, the co-op interplay was the only thing that really made it tolerable.

I felt it ended with the third game but what I’ve seen of Judgement makes me think I made a mistake not picking it up.

I certainly am not happy with what's happened to Halo since Reach though. I feel like 4 is starting a story that didn't need to be told and is using extremely boring gameplay to do it.

If 4 onwards is the Chief/Cortana love-story/deserting humanity for personal revenge/quest, then I’m all for it!#Cortana&Chief4eva#fanship#hashtags4harli

I don't really grok any complaints about gameplay, far as I’m concerned every Halo game bar ODST has had identical gameplay. Functionally inferior thanks to the fucking gamepad instead of keyboard&mouse. Maybe I spend all my time distracted from the more subtle nuances of gameplay by having to concentrate so hard on aiming with an absurd, inferior control system.

Same gameplay but more annoying enemies

Basically this. The new enemies all look the same and are boring to fight. There's no real strategy to fighting them like there was with the Covenant.

I like the idea of the Chief/Cortana "love story" but I have no faith in 343 to execute it.

Yep, same here. In general, I’m sick of milking franchises.

So I should cancel that surprise preorder I did for you of Milkman Simulator 2014?

I enjoyed playing the first one. How many have they released since? Pfft, haven't got enough time to keep up with everything ever created, that's my problem.

We just had some guy come to our office to train us how to use the new photocopier. Most fascinating hour of my life

Did my page get cherry just get popped? Felt…different…

should errrrhm…should i buy you breakfast or something?

Just don't leave without saying goodbye 😛

I haven't been impressed by photocopiers since I first worked at Kinko's and got introduced to the Xerox DocuTech 6135.

*fans self*

What a machine.

[Edited: whinge about writing stuff and self-confidence]

On the other hand, I got to take the morning off work to see a nineteen-week-old foetus sucking its thumb (or picking its nose; it's not entirely clear) today, so it's not all bad. \o/

If you don't believe in it why should anyone else? Keep the course Shane. I won't lie and say the book was flawless but they were solid and fantastic for a first effort. Not everyone is going to love them and to ignore them because they’re flawed is not a path to self improvement.

This.

Thanks, man. Your response is appreciated.

I’m all about the self-improvement. I’m just considering a step back in terms of self-promotion.

I don't think anybody is worried about the self-promotion. Half the time you are just responding to somebody else comment anyway.

You good rite, we buy.

Keep in mind that people will always be more vocal when they don't like something, especially online, and also if someone's critiquing your work even if you get 9 reviews out of 10 being positive your brain will more often than not focus on the negative one.

Draw from what you’ve learnt, what people have said, both the good and the bad (you’d be a fool (sorry to say) to just completely ignore criticism) and try and make use of that in your next book. Perseverance can be hard to find, especially when you’ve put a lot of effort into something and then not get the response you would like, but it's how you react to them that defines where you’ll go in the future.

Of course though it's completely natural to feel a bit shit when someone knocks your work so don't feel too bad for feeling like that. If it continues though and you really feel like your book will hold you back in the future, that's why people create pseudonyms 😛

The only way to get people to read your next book though is to make it as good as you can. If it's good enough people will read it

On the other hand, I got to take the morning off work to see a nineteen-week-old foetus sucking its thumb (or picking its nose; it's not entirely clear) today, so it's not all bad. \o/

Sure, when a 19 week old foetus does it it's cute, when I do it I’m apparently a creepy 29 year old who needs to grow up

Ah, don't delete your whinges, man. I know it's hypocritical of me to say this, but I like to think I haven't deleted a post in a long while.

One thing I’ll say about Lesser Evil that has put me off reading:

That art style, man. To be brutally, brutally honest I’m not a fan and find it incredibly tough to read. The writing and scene composition and all that stuff is all kinds of awesome. Your instincts as a story teller serves you incredibly well. Your work has also progressed incredibly since the first stuff too. Looking at the Triumviritus stills you post from time-to-time on twitter? You can see your skill using poser and all that has improved dramatically.

Getting back to Lesser Evil. To tell you the truth, this criticism might not just be the 3D method either though, I have trouble reading black-and-white comics at the best of time, even with intricate drawings and the like. But here's the thing, man. You’re making stuff happen. You’ve pressed on and have completed work to show for it. It's inspiring. Every thing you do only gets better and better too. Just keep on keeping on.

I know it must be really tough when your pals haven't read your work yet and for that, I apologize. 🙁 It's most certainly nothing personal, though. I rarely read much of any thing these days…

Last edited January 28, 2014 4:06 pm 😛

Hmm. Your comment about not enjoying black and white comics brings to mind my absolute favourite black and white comic: Lone Wolf and Cub. Also, Samurai Executioner – by the same writer and artist. I can't pick between the two.

So much conveyed with so little words. So powerful. Perfection.

Thanks for your reply, man. I thought I’d leave my response until Page 4 was in the distant past. I agree with you about the art style. Couldn't agree more, in fact. I hope that should you ever pick up Peaceful Tomorrows (or any forthcoming work in that series) you’ll agree that I’ve cleaned up that style quite a lot.

But with regards to my edit, I’m trying to hold my professional self to a certain standard. I have to assume that everything I say can be Googled and read by anyone, and throwing a hissy bitch fit in public when something doesn't go right is not a good move in that regard. I seem to keep slipping when it happens, but at least it's only here where a) everyone is awesome and understanding and b) it can be edited/deleted.

Was this in reference to The Lesser Evil? Sorry Shane, I’ve only had time to plow through about 50 pages or so. If there's any gripes – it's that the text should be bolder for better clarity on 6 inch Kindle devices but that's not really a gripe against your work, really.

Other than that, so far so good. \o/

You guys find out if you’re having a boy or girl yet?

Nah, and we don't want to know until the birth! 🙂

@doc_what Someone get me a lighter! I wanna be a firebug! >:D

For a movie prop mugshot only, of course! ….

Okay, how the hell do you aim-down-sights with a crossbow in Dark Souls? (On Xbox) I received crossbow several days ago, yet I haven't been able to use it effectively. I have tried every button combination. Up on D-pad, Left stick, Right Stick, RB, RT, LB, LT, A, B, X, Y, A + B, LB + RB… I could go on for while.Heh, that almost sounded lyrical.

You don't. Bow only.

just move closer to the TV when you want to quick scope someone

That could work, you could also put on some binoculars when you want to aim.

↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A

Bow > Crossbow anyway, in my opinion 😛

Except in PvP. Bow is pretty useless but the crossbow can be surprisingly effective. Especially Avelyn.

I avoid PVP like the plague, haha! I spent 20 minutes the other day hiding from an intruder in the sewers :3And poison arrows are good for 2 on 1 scenarios. Let the other guy fight the intruder while you pepper him with arrows, haha!

What makes the bow useless? Longer draw time?

Pretty much. It telegraphs for an age, the projectiles are super slow and do little damage. Extremely easy to avoid and even easier to just block. Crossbows are only good for a quick surprise shot but that can be quite effective at putting someone off balance shortly which can make all the difference.

My plan for when I eventually try PvP is to try and get a quick surprise hit in with the Dragonslayer Greatbow, but not rely on it or anything. Or use it when summoned (I like to help people out more than do proper PvP).

I… don't think I’ve ever seen anyone try to use the Dragonslayer now in PvP. Not sure of it would work too well. Takes forever to fire and you can't move while drawing.

Haha, my plan was to take pot shots from a mile away, then when they get close switch out to my trusty spear ;DI already know it's a horrible idea, but I’ve decided that my character is going to look super amazing with the Dragonslayer, so I don't care :3 I already suck at PvP, I may as well die with some style 😉

Or you could do like I did and grind 200,000+ souls to fully-upgrade the pyromancer flame and then BLAM them with a poison mist as they charge, then switch to shield and snake-man greatsword (awesome str bonus) to choppy-chop-chop. STR/END FOR DAYS SON, I CAN DO THIS FOREVER.

…I am all talk, but did handle a couple invasions OK. It was ALL chop-chop though, I did not have the pyro flame at that time. I do now, and no-one to use it on.

@transientmind my PvP tactics at the moment since I’m only level 35 and still have pretty dodgy equipment are:A) Run closer to a bonfire so I I don't have to travel as far when I get killedB) Search desperately for a summon sign to get assistanceC) Face my intruder like a man, put up a decent fight (ie block, back away, occasionally attack) and die, orD) Hide until they leave (I’ve done this twice, hahaha!)When I’ve got better stuff I’ll put up a bit more of a fight, hahaha!

Yeah its weird to think but apparently crossbowmen just pointed in the general direction, trusted their luck and fired whereas bowmen were more like snipers

Crossbow you can't. You’ve got to get into position where you can lock on (press right stick) and then shoot normally.

Bow, you need to select it, then wield it with two hands (Y/Triangle) then LB/L1 to sight it and RB/R1 to shoot it.

Get a bow.

Hmmm. Bethesda Game Studios are to have a booth at PAX East in April. Nothing released last year by them and they haven't announced what they’re working on since Skyrim

The Dragonborn has a new hat.

I see you’re expecting the surprise announcement that Valve will be publishing the next Elder Scrolls game

Lets hope they don't have a FALLing OUT with Penny arcade beFOUR pax east huh?

I’m sorry, I didn't quite get the subtleties in your message. What exactly are you trying to say again?

🙂

Also, in b4 Horse Armour.

Aren't they publishing The Evil Within as well?

That's Bethesda Softworks. Bethesda Game Studios are the ones who actually make the games

Is it definitely one and not the other that's got the booth? Normally it would be the publisher that would take a booth even if they were going to put developer bums on the seats there.

Also could it be The Elder Scrolls Online? That's out soonish and by April they’ll be trying to get the hype train moving. Though that’ll be difficult since no one seems to want it and everyone is predicting it’ll bomb…

Elder Scrolls Online is by Zenimax

Yes, which is Bethesda.

Zenimax are Bethesda's parent company. All their games are published under the Bethesda Softworks label.

The Elder Scrolls Online isn't a Bethesda Game Studios game, but it is a Bethesda Softworks game.

yes, but i was going on the assumption that it was Bethesda games that was going to pax, not bethesda softworks.

if it is softworks, its obviously elder scrolls online.

ah bottoms, might just be Bethesda Softworks. Skimread an article based on Pete Hines tweeting Bethesda would be there. Ah well, live in hope. I’m still not expecting anything Fallouty until next year at least

WOO SURPRISE ARCADE FIRE TICKETS!!! People who have been how dressy do I need to be? @DC

I went to the Big Day Out thing, so I dressed for comfort.

http://www.kramsdesign.com/misc/bdo2014/20140119_170821.jpg

I take it you’re going to a side show? I say dress for comfort too. 😀

It's an amaaaazing show, man. So jealous.

Yeah, Sydney entertainment centre, tonight, a mate couldn't go so I scored his tickets

I think maaaaaybe @batguy is going too?

I am indeed. And I am currently wearing shorts and Simpsons T-Shirt. Anybody who has a problem with that can go jump in a lake.

Pretty sure it's Tuxedo minimum.

Save it for the fictitious Brisbane Dapper Meat, my friend!

I think you’re confused as to the meaning of fictitious.

it's on like a large gorilla throwing barrels at a moustached Italian plumber

seriously, @dc, suit up 😛

I don't have a suit. I don't have a tie. I don't have dress pants. I don't have a spiffy button up shirt.

I’m willing to buy a top hat though! 😀

works for me. Make it so

Go on…

I could dress up as the gorilla…

Tomorrow I’ll be live streaming my first play through of Broken Age.

To make sure the recording stuff works right I did a play through of Walking Dead 2×01 earlier.

Spooooooilers, obviously. (For season one as well, cause of the whole ‘previously’ thing…)

https://new.livestream.com/accounts/4164925/events/2726473

Bah, logins… You also going to upload to the Tube of You?

Oh, I think that's only the archive thing that requires login… maybe… when it's actually live I think you don't have to, but I’m not sure!

Maybe but the chances are I won't see it live, I’ll probably be playing Dark Souls, editing videos or staring at a wall wishing I could be bothered to play Dark Souls or edit videos

Eh, you won't be missing much. No commentary or any thing. Just pure game play.

Well technically I could get that from a lot of places but where else could I provide feedback and ask why it took you 10 minutes to work out a really simple puzzle? I mean its obvious that you’d have to use the can of cola with the budgerigar to get the password to open the door! I think I’ve played too many adventure games…

Quiz night ho

I am not a prostitute dealing in trivia

So, I got about 20 seconds into the movie Clerks before I got a call from my father. I suppose because of custody and stuff, I am required to go over there for a few days. Since I can't really access the internet there, I will be going dark for a few days.I suppose the word "custody" isn't really the right word for the situation, despite my father citing it at some point. To my knowledge, custody rules don't really apply due to me, as I am 16. Rather, my dad wants to see me and I can't bring myself to say no.

Was that a little too personal? Sorry.

If the handcuffs come out, it becomes custody.

Unless a lady in leather is doing it, then it becomes BDSM

Clerks will still be there and we’ll still be here afterwards

Anything I’d have to say would be slighty massively biased due to being a Dad.

One time when I was 13 my dad called me on a Saturday morning to say he wouldn't be able to see me that weekend because he was in Coolangatta. He didn't come back until I was 17. Since that time I’ve seen him roughly once a year, if he remembers to drop by around Christmas.

My fondest memories of my childhood with my father are our mutual dislike of my stepmother and renting The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy BBC TV series at least once a month.

YOU’RE ONLY SIXTEEN?! HOLY SHIT! 😀

I officially the babby of TAY. I can't tell if this is an insult or an honour.To be honest, I feel bad posting about my problems on TAY, as my problems are pretty much "teenage" problems.

Don't sweat it. What happens in TAY, stays in TAY.

Second vid is full on, TV Evangelsist explains how Pokemon is training children to use dark magic and control demons in hell and then shoot people:

http://comicsalliance.com/everything-is-terrible-pokemon-school-video/

Sigh. If only…

Man, if that's what you get as a bonus from Pokemon, imagine how incredible M:TG players are.

EDIT: I completely lost it when the video flips up Jigglypuff and he's like "Your children need to know that there is a devil and he wants to ruin their life". Accurate.

The best part was the nodding woman at 1:20.

scariest

I want to learn C#, anyone got any good learning resources? Stuff that actually teaches you properly rather than gives you code samples and assumes you’ll stare at them until something clicks in your head and you understand it all.

http://www.codeacademy.comIt's interactive, so it's good for learning. I was starting off small with Ruby.

They didn't have C# the last time I looked, seems that they still don't sadly.

Don't they? I must’ve been thinking of C++

They don't have C++ either. It's too much of a "many ways to do it" language that doesn't work well with the style of codeacademy.

@aliasalpha, why do you want to do C#? I’m just thinking that something like Java might be easier because alot of the syntax carries over into C (I think). As @scree said, codeacademy.com is great, I’ve used it in the past, and you can easily learn Python, Java, HTML, CSS, and others. Then you have experience in some easier langauges and will be able to get your head around the Syntax of something complicated (like C) alot easier. I had an Objective-C for dummies book, that was OK, but it has activities and stuff for you to do, but assumes you’ll do them. I found it difficult to follow in some spots, but I wasn't actively doing all the activities, and it was essentially my first language (I’d dabbled briefly in C++, but can't do alot). Experience is good though, even if it's only one language that's easier.

From what I’ve read the best language to use for serious development in Unity is C# and serious development is what I want to get into if I can learn things properly. Fuck looking for a job, I’m going to make one.

I know a lot of languages have similarity of syntax but that's actually a substantial disadvantage to me. The bits of coding I know from trying out a few languages in the past MOSTLY worked the same way with the C# I muddled my way though when trying to make a winphone7 app, it was all good until the syntax was slightly different and no one ever explained how or why this seemingly correct command didn't work. I need to learn the right thing from scratch or I’ll just get confused, pissed off and give up again. Its why I’m pissed off that there's nowhere around that has any C# courses, 2 higher education places in town with a rep for teaching IT and neither have decent programming subjects…

To me its not like learning a spoken language with Germanic root would really help learn German, it's more like learning a language with a Germanic root would get me scorned and abused because I seem to only ever meet Germans who require grammatical perfection and near enough is not anything like good enough.

I’m an artist if you need help with that side of things. I have a lot of spare time too.

Well I’ll certainly keep you in mind if I ever manage to get to the stage where I am actually getting stuff on a screen. You’ll probably hear my whoop of victory from there if I do.

I seem to have missed this message earlier, that's what happens when I have something like 8 replies all at once…

Sadly it looks like codeacademy is purely for webdevelopment stuff. It's a shame since from the bits I’ve seen of it, it looks like pretty much exactly the kind of thing I want.

The only comparable looking source for C# I’ve seen is a 6 hour video tutorial thing from a place called Lynda.com which looks like it might be okay but it's not something you can buy, you have to subscribe to the site. For $25/month…

Try life hacker U. Life hacker has articles on free learning. I think I’ve seen others on there

Here's a link. Hope it helpshttp://www.lifehacker.com.au/2014/01/plan-your-free-online-education-at-lifehacker-u-spring-semester-2014/

@aliasalphaI hope the above link helps

I’ll have to have a good look through the list tomorrow when I’m a bit more awake. Thanks

http://www.learncs.org/

also

http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/c-fundamentals-development-for-absolute-beginners#?fbid=wKU_YzHu_WV

oops.. two links in one post… check back soon.. comment went in to moderation 😉

I had 4 links. It was okay with that. I edited in one more. Moderation for me.

Don't worry scree & @welbot, I’m not in that much of a hurry, I’m sure I can wait for moderation…

*looks at the clock*

*hits refresh…*

Are you new to C# or new to programming in general?

All the imperative languages (C, C++, Obj-C, C#, Java, Python, Ruby, PHP etc.) have a lot of similar concepts and it's often only the syntax that changes. If you know one (especially if it's C, C++ or Java) then moving to the others is usually pretty easy.

But from the sound of it you want to start from first principles. Honestly the best thing to start with is probably an old-fashioned book (O’Reilly have good ones, like Head First C#) or to have someone teach you. The basic concepts aren't that hard but they’re probably quite foreign when you start. On the upside, C# hides some of the complexities away from you.

Other than that the best thing is to make some simple programs to do various things to get your head around stuff. Start slow, maybe command-line level and work up from there.

Personally I started programming by writing mods for an RPG I liked a lot using their internal scripting language that was basically machine codes, and also BASIC on a TI-83 graphics calculator, writing maths helper apps for high school. I taught myself rudimentary coding for the web with PHP before learning C, Java and C++ at University, and now I code in C++ and C# for a living, with occasional forays into Perl and Python and a fairly long stint with Ruby on Rails a while back in my spare time as well. The concepts are the important part to learn, most programming languages are basically just dialects.

Also if you have programming-related questions I’d always be happy to help you out, look at code etc. I’m sure there are other people in TAY who would be happy to look at stuff too.

EDIT: Also, don't expect to be good at Programming in a week or so unless you’re some kind of John Carmack-style genius. IMO It's a skill like woodworking or learning a spoken language to fluency or anything like that, takes a lot of time to master.

I’ve actually done a fair bit of programming over the years but its mostly been modifying existing code while only having a vague understanding of what the changes I’ve made really do at the code level or building extremely simple stuff from scratch. The Winphone7 thing I made was the most sophisticated thing I’ve built from scratch (except perhaps my xbox 360 awesome text adventure or going into K-Mart's C64 displays and typing 10 print "K-Mart Sucks", 20 goto 10, run) and that was just a glorified HTML/PHP container.

I’m pretty much at the stage where I know enough to think I know more than I know if that makes any sense (I’m not sure it does). What I think I need is to junk the lot and start as if I were a total noob focussing on one language with no messing about.

I’ve been trying to avoid books because historically I tend to not learn technical stuff well from them, I might have to give them another shot if I can't find videos or interactive stuff.

Yeah, different people learn different ways. I learn easily through reading stuff.

If you’ve done a bit, do you understand things like variables and functions and so on? I think what you’re describing is basically that you’re already past being a beginner but need help moving to the intermediate step.

I think the best thing is to find someone or multiple someones that can help when you get stuck, and just start doing various projects.

Maybe don't start with C#? You could learn a web language and most of the concepts will transfer over. Or learn Python, it's a nice starting language and there's shitloads of free learning resources out there. And you can use it for games etc. too.

Might be worth taking a short course at TAFE/Uni if you’re serious about it. It helps A LOT to have someone to ask questions to when you’re first starting out with this sort of stuff.

That's exactly what I was hoping for, got both tafe and uni here, both suck balls when it comes to programming. If I wanted to learn a web language I’d be set but a real programming language? Shit out of luck…

That's a shame. I know that UTS in Sydney hold short courses for intro programming fairly regularly. Maybe try emailing your local Uni/TAFE and enquire about what they do. You never know, they might be able to offer some advice.

Also have you tried looking at SEEK Learning? I haven't used it myself but it might help.

I’ve quizzed lecturers over the years when I wanted to learn various other programming languages, there's just not enough people to run a subject and/or no one with the right skills to teach it.

You could always just jump straight into unity if that was what you are looking forhttp://www.unity3dstudent.com/category/modules/http://unity3d.com/unity

Remember if you are using google you might have more luck looking for .Net courses rather than directly looking for C#http://www.homeandlearn.co.uk/csharp/csharp.html

Hey guys!A local store of mine has started selling League Of Legends things!I know you guys tend to like League so even though I’m not a fan, I thought I would let you know.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/luckydogofdeath/Mobile%20Uploads/20140128_102553.jpg Um, girl in a dress. About 20cm high, $100. (Gorzy and Numbers say it's Kaitlyn)http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/luckydogofdeath/Mobile%20Uploads/20140128_102556.jpg Ezrael. Bit bigger. $100. (Techie has already asked for one and they have two)http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/luckydogofdeath/azrael.jpg Outside of the packaginghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/luckydogofdeath/Mobile%20Uploads/20140128_102607.jpg 6 people. It's $130 but that's for all six of them.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/luckydogofdeath/Mobile%20Uploads/20140128_102641.jpg $35 each.

If anyone is interested, please let me know. I am happy to foot postage for the smaller items. I’ve no idea how heavy the bigger items are, but I can probably afford that too.This shop also sells League of legends bags, hats and t-shirts.

Unmoderate my comment damn you *shakes fist*

Spot on:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VZaQbQtZY4

Whoop, back home from Sydney, Primus was excellent and I bought a big pile of anime from chinatown cause I only know of place in Brisbane that sells imported anime but they charge ridiculous prices, probably cause they don't have competition (there may be more but I don't know where they are). I got the P4G movie and a Black Jack OVA I’d never heard of (why had I never heard of it, I hope it's good) and several more, the lovely shopkeep was even kind enough to throw in a free copy of Ponyo cause I spent a bit, score.

P4G movie?

When can I come round and drop off the bday gifd?

it seems it's only a half hour anime there wasn't much on the case that I could read, looks awesome though Chie tries to kill people with her cooking. You can drop round any time Jim guy except when I’m at work.

I tried to watch the series and was disgusted by it.

Weeeell, disgusted is a bit strong. I was unimpressed a lot.The game is so good, all tie-in shit seems like utter shit.

well I’ll check it out, it was really cheap so no big loss if it's poop,.

How many Ponyos is that?

(only one correct answer and it's a Reservoir Dogs quote….go!)

You should’ve come to the Meat we had on Sunday! Ah well 😛

GAH, comment in moderation.A store near me sells Lol stuff. I will repost

.

I see your . and raise you a :

I’ll make your : longer at the top with !

:O amazing

¡Take that.

ᴁ!http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/4/49536/1205689-fonzie.jpg

spoiler tag that fluff!

EDIT: Or that

It's fixed now.ᴁ!

Gonna go play Skyrim cos if I keep mentioning it @dc will suddenly love it more than TV!

*watches TV*

*strums guitar*

*STRUMS GUITARRR*!

Never got what was so amazing about that game 😛

Respawning random dragons

huh, the dungeons in that aren't random? I went back into some ages later and they were the same. I remember I actually lost my daedric staff and recalled that a day or two earlier I’d been attacked by some annoying dudes that disarmed me and i dropped a bunch of stuff in my haste to kill them, I managed to remember where I was went back into the dungeon and sure enough I found the staff in a dark corner near where I’d killed the dudes. It was really lucky cause you have to have all the Daedric artifacts in your possession to get a trophy and I was going for the platinum (which I did get, Huzzah, pretty proud of that actually :P)

Dragons

deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerp 😛

Haha! I read it the same way and had this whole thing about how I hate procedurally generated stuff. Then I proof read. I’m glad I did. XD

I was reading all the hype and was like, yeah sure, cos I never liked Oblivion that much and now Im a little addicted.

Fair enough, thought i’d check it out after all the hype, but I just couldn't get into it.

I thought oblivion (and indeed every elder scrolls game I’d played before) sucked but skyrim managed to click for me. No idea why, just seemed to work

I really got into that, I just loved the flexibility and the scale, the way you weren't forced to do anything in any order and how you could customize your character any way you wanted, I didn't play many story missions until I’d done most of the optional stuff and didn't pick a side in the Stormcloak rebelion until right near the end. It's awesome to see different people's characters and how diverse they were cause they were tailored to how you wanted to play. what sorta character are you going with? I went with an Argonian with maxed single hand sword, shield, light armor, archery skills, and all the enchanting & smithing stats.

two swords, heavy armour, restoration magic, lockpicking.

Working on smithing and sorta enchantment.Speech seems to be levelling dont think I did more than a perk so far.

Im a fem nord with short white hair and red face paint.

i never upgraded my lockpicking and managed to pick everything i came across,

Im keen to get that extra treasure perk

meh, I didn't think it was worth the points and never struggled to open a chest. but that's the fun of it, play how you want 😀

@gutsoup, you jinxed me! Last night I got two master locked gates isn a row and used up most of my pick!

Hey… that's my Xenoblade strategy!

Xeno

Xenoxeno

Bladeeeeeee

Wew finally have Mario & Luigi Dream Team, and the next 3 days with barely anything else to do to play it! Going up to Burnie again, and well, there's not much to do in Burnie…

And yeah, I thought getting my friends into playing racing sims would be good, but it sucks because nobody wants to play them with me because I win every race 🙁 I guess that's understandable.

@dc I’ve really been getting into Rick and Morty now! It's a pretty great show and the main characters are finally growing on me. I’m still not getting an ‘Adult Swim’ vibe from it. Not sure if that's a good thing or not 😛

So yeah, had a pretty busy week or so, and have been away from the internet for most of it. But apparently we’re actually getting NBN next week. They’re going up the street now installing it. Nobody wanted to say that they fucked up the fibre installation and had to redo it up the entire street…

I think that's why I like Rick and Morty. It's crazy but not Adult Swim crazy like you say. I’ve never really liked most Adult Swim shows though. I do like their flash games.

Have you watched the new Workaholics? I totally forgot it started last week so I’ll be watching it tomorrow.

Yeah, first episode of the new season was pretty good! Just as insane as usual, but I hope there's more office stuff than last season.

I loved the old Adult Swim stuff – Sealab 2021, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Home Movies, etc. The newer stuff was never really interesting to me.

I’m torn on Rick & Morty. It has some genuinely excellent bits but I don't know if I like the titular characters at all. Maybe it's the constant drooling and slurring in Rick's voice acting. Maybe it's the pointlessness of Morty. I watch it, but I don't really know if it's any good.

There was this racing game on PS2, it ahd realistic car physics, so I was behind my friend, slightly nudged his car slightly and it ended up spiralling off the track and crashing, so I won 😛I’m so disappointed when I can't do that on racing sims these days.

What was it called?

R:Racing Evolution?Gran Turismo 3/4?Enthusia?Something Else?

How many people would be interested in Pax meat again, and what day would people prefer it to be on?Upvote the preferred night

Also, it will be a bit more expensive then the last place but food and one drink is included. It’ll accommodate 100 people and it has karaoke, bowling and laser tag.

Friday

I am derp

Saturday

Sunday

Of course! That's the main reason I’m going!

Any day would work I think, but you’ll want to arrange something early since it's also Melbourne Cup weekend.

Is this early enough? =P

Yep 🙂

PAX North! It's still a thing!

If I am going to PAX, sure, Saturday works for me!

Well I would but there's that whole "not going to PAX" thing that might spoil it for me

Will you be in Melbourne? Because you don't have to be at Pax =P

Well… a bit less than 500km away counts as basically ‘in town’ doesn't it?

Drive down for the day? You don't have to go to pax. We had non-pax people last year

Its in what, October isn't it? By then the finances might be slightly less awful so I won't completely rule it out

End of October

Well if I start walking now…

I’m there for the three PAX nights, possibly slightly longer. Am up for meating whoever, wherever 😀

I will have to book soon, which is why I’m asking

I’ll probably be there for longer, too! Maybe a day or two either side? I dunno yet, I feel like I’d rather take most of the week off work if Im going to bother applying for leave 😛 Get my holidays worth!

This time I will attend 😛

As for times, assuming I still end up going and things don't come up in the meantime to prevent that, I should be there for the whole thing so it shouldn't really matter when it is.

Alright. I need to know because it will have to be booked soon

Saturday is best IMO. I’m also flying from out of state, so it suits me and my fronz better too. *shrugs*

*note to self* don't go to trivia just after Australia Day when you’re not Australian. We got our worst score ever of 4.5/20. We did win a bottle of wine on the music round though

It's okay. People think I am unAustralian because I don't drink and don't like vegemite

This woman at Big Day Out I was talking to literally thought I wasn't Australian because of my accent. :\

I have been called american twice and new zealander once.I was born in Australia and have lived here my whole life. =/

When I was in London people had no idea where I was from! :S

How many of them guessed you were from another planet? That's what my money is on

before I moved over here when I worked on checkouts in Sainsburys I would get mistaken for Australian and South African. Very rarely English, although I’m putting that down to me working in Yorkshire but being from Cambrige. Slight variance in accents between the two places

Slight variance? I see you have that English understatement thing down pat…

Overcompensate by walking around in thongs, blue shorts and a singlet

Didn't you pay attention to those There's Nothing More Australian commercials, though? WHAT HAPPENED?

ever since my tv cable got broken at a halloween party two years I’ve not watched tv. It's been pure bliss

Trivia \o/I have no idea where you are based, where is that? I managed free beer in heads or tails but that was pretty much it for the night.Although we did successfully give away a kilo of lamingtons

@nightflarer: since you collect Persona figures this might be of interest:http://mikatan.goodsmile.info/en/2014/01/28/a-new-series-of-articulated-figures-parfom-aigis-%E2%99%A5/

Looks like Phat are starting a new figure series that's articulated like Figma but has a slightly super-deformed style like Nendoroid. So basically right in the middle. Kind of interesting. Style and proportions kind of remind me of Fire Emblem: Awakening for some reason.

I really like the stand design they’ve got there. Triangular base should mean you can put lots together without them crowding each other too much and still should be fairly stable. Better than the Nendo stuff, though they’ve finally standardized on their stand designs now (first 150 or so they went through about five different stand designs of various quality)

I’m already way too far down the Nendoroid hole to start collecting a new figure series like this but I might bite on one or two if they’re characters I like.

Yeah, I’ve been following this for a while. Very interesting, only thing I don't like is her cheeks but I will still get, because you know… Persona 😛I really like the triangle base as well, way better to have multiple characters together than the figma bases together.

Those who are going to Pax but don't have accommodation yet, there is http://www.shortstay.com.au/ Southbank central is across the road from the Melbourne Convention and exhibition centre. SouthbankOne is another one not too far away either.

Shorts Tay?I’m not the only one that read it like that right? 😛

Maybe not?

What about the non-short TAYbies?

I thought it was just a mandatory dress code?

A friend of mine has organised a hotel for me . SO PUMPED!!! Now to work on my Cosplay 🙂

My friend linked me to this earlier in the nighthttp://poppy-popsicles.tumblr.com/post/32865661102/i-wanted-to-download-we-will-rock-you-but

Upon hearing it, something came to mind and I had to see what it would be like. So this happened:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeDCziR3ggw

Too hot…🙁

Oh stop it, you’re making me blush! ;3

Ugh. Early.

On the plus side, that's mum off to the airport so I’ve got the house to myself til Sunday, woo!

…I hope there's enough leftovers to see me through.

I hope you’ve prepared yourself for a stampede of lady admirers. Set up some queuing equipment and a deli-style buffet, etc.

I’ve already got the go-ahead from my sister to use her (surprisingly sizable) inflatable pool AND the fire pit!

So there will be a swimsuit competition and a "draw me laying naked infront of a fireplace" competition.

Well there were no specifications on what I could or couldn't use them for…

Glad to see you’ve thought this through! Hope you’ve had plenty of protein.

Just a cheerful reminder. The Doomsday Clock is currently 5 minutes to midnight.

http://www.thebulletin.org/five-minutes-too-close

I think Iron Maiden wrote a song about that. 30 years ago.

Nah, they were two minutes to 🙂

That was 2 minutes.

Incidentally, I always found it funny that they released a song about everything exploding in 2 minutes via a song that went for 6.

It could have been 2 minutes from the end of the song rather than from the beginning

Does anybody still play Skyrim on PS3? I know waay back at launch it there was a bit of a debacle with the game being a tad broken, just wondering what the state of it is now.

@jimu ?

I do. Haven't noticed anything particularly broken. When i started it did d’load a giant patch

I played it at launch for about 60 hours and never had a problem.

They’ve released all the DLC now which they said they wouldn't do until the game ran properly so I’d wager it's safe to give it a shot.

There seems to be a massive Skyrim resurgence recently. Did I miss something or did every just start playing cause everyone else did?

Definitive editions on sale may have helped around the end of last year. If it wasn't for Dark Souls there's a good chance I would have rolled a new Skyrim character instead.

It was cheap enough on steam in the sale recently, might be what started it

I’ve been watching a friend play it for a while, felt like having an adventure.

the only game breaking bug that I’ve witnessed was my girlfriend playing the imperial quest line and one of the quest givers wouldn't give her the next part of the quest. I’m not sure if that's been patched since the DLCs but I’d reckon it has been. She hasn't said anything since playing it again

I just started last week and no big trouble so far.

Been patches to stop that shit but dunnooooooooo

So Gog is having a time machine sale.

There's one game that's on special until the clock runs out. As more people buy it, the clock runs longer.

It's been stuck on SimCity 2000 for an hour, despite only having a minute and eight seconds to go.Then again, $1.49 for SimCity 2000 is pretty good…

GOG is a time machine sale

Sim City 2000 is going to be up there for a long, long time.

I’d buy it if I didn't already have it on Steam, go back to it recently following the new Sim City hype, and find that it just wasn't as engaging to me now as it was back in the 90s.

@rize, @cakesmith @whoeverelseisinterestedIs JC2MP still on tonight? trying to plan my day that's all and it's good if i have a bit of a heads up 😛

Sure, why not?I know @rocketman was interested. Possibly @mythamphetamine too.

I have not done MP before, so pretty keen on giving it a go… what stuff do you usually get up to?

Everything

i… need an adult?

That's cool, I didn't want to play your crummy game anyway. ='(

Would you like to play with us Nob?

I am the worst person ever.

A task I should probably finish before the end of January – I need to sit down and document exactly what is in my pile of shame. I suspect this will get to 3 figures from my Steam account alone, plus I’ve got a decent backlog of ps3 and 360 games (not to mention wii and wii u).Where is a good place to draw the line? I won't be including anything on my GOG account, and I think anything from humble bundle is already on the steam list. Not going to include F2P or beta access either. Not sure where PS+ fits in.I believe I should also make some sub sections for the half finished games, and for a priority short list. Maybe I should attempt to document the approximate purchase date and price just to add some more perspective (and horror) to the list.Any thoughts on best ways to go about this? It seems like a monumental task so I keep procrastinating over it. If I get this list done, it should be easier to stick to my goal for this year – I have fully paid preorders on Dark Souls 2 and Tales of Symphonia Chronicles, and I will buy the Witcher 3. That will be it for the year. I need to play through games I’ve already bought.

Edit: Witcher 3, not 2.Edit edit: Repetition.

One of the ways I organised my list is by using http://www.howlongtobeat.com/

Organise your games and spreadsheet it up -> punch in the average time it takes to beat the game -> when you feel like you’re slipping, go to the shortest game and finish that first -> feel rewarded -> tackle a larger game.

By breaking it down into manageable chunks you can get yourself motivated easier. It becomes easier to tackle when you say "Oh, I can knock that game over by Friday and finish the other one by Sunday evening" then to say "Oh man I have x amount of games and I don't know which one to tackle first".

Also mix it up by doing a PC, then a console, then a handheld. Or change them up via genres. That way you won't get PC/Wii burnout or RPG/FPS burnout.

Or, just go with a sticker chart and give yourself a gold star everytime you finish a game. Works for chores, should work for games?

The secondary goal will be reducing the pile, but the primary goal is actually no more purchases apart from the Witcher 3 for this year.I’m worried that if I document it by play time, then I might avoid some of the better games purely because of those numbers. I’ve already knocked over a few small games at the start of this year to be further ahead on finished games than all of 2013.Any idea how to handle collections? I acquired the MGS PS3 collection late last year, that's got a lit of games in it.Mixing up the platforms sounds like a good approach. Sticker chart sounds very workable, my fiancée has just set up a classroom with those so one for me should be easy.

Yeah, in regards to play time, you may begin to miss out on the bigger and (not always, but generally) better games. I’d say go sticker chart.

If you really want to guilt yourself, sort them by price that you paid for them and play the most expensive down.

As for collections, I wouldn't count them as one thing – and I wouldn't tackle them all in one go (otherwise, burnout – especially with Metal Gear Solid and those massive cutscenes). Just note them down as separate games and tackle them in order?

whatever you do, don't reward yourself for finishing a game by buying another game 😀

If I did that, oh god. No. Please no.Top of that list isDuke Nukem ForeverI bought the collector's edition

I may have vomited a little in my mouth.No.No may.I have.

bah, just made a profile and added a few games. 15 games and 25.5 days to play them all…*sigh*. I feel I need more short indie games, doesn't even have to be indie tbh. What I really need is a week or two off work un-interrupted. Will never happen

I did this and posted it here a couple weeks ago. I included PS+ (since I genuinely want to play the games), but didn't include Steam as that's sitting on 250+ and I can't be stuffed documenting it yet. 😀

I might have to include PS+, there's some things I want to play, mostly Vita based, so they deserve a mention on the list. The rest can be listed under ‘never going to play’.

If you only buy Witcher 3 this year, I think you’ll be pretty set. It sounds like it might have as much content as Skyrim (at least that's what the devs are saying).

Let me know how you go with that as I probably need to do something similar. Not sure if I can restrict myself to just The Witcher 3 and Destiny (which are the two big games this year for me) but I do want to cut back a bit until I can clear the backlog.

Though perhaps starting on the backlog clearing exercise with Dark Souls wasn't a great idea.

Plus, if I manage to be that controlled with spending for a year, hopefully that will mean I can afford a PS4 next January (and have a different perspective on whether I buy it)

That's smart too. I wish I had the discipline to hold off. There's other stuff coming I know I’ll end up buying because I can't stop myself, eg I’ll definitely be getting Trails in the Sky SC when that happens. And probably triple-dip on FC when the Steam release happens (already own physical PSP and PSN PSP copies).

I hope I have the discipline. If it's going to happen any year, it should be this year given the wedding and mortgage plans to deal with.

I’m supposed to be saving for a deposit on a place too. Not really doing a great job with that.

Be ruthless because time is a scarce commodity. I would do it this way:

-List all your games-Cull the ones you know you’re just not going to play (stuff you got in a bundle that's not interesting, stuff you bought to have on PC because you had it on console and wanted a backup because it was on sale for a buck or whatever)-Tick off the ones you know you will play-Get a list of all the remainder in a text file-Load up youtube and find gameplay footage, give it at most 5 minutes to impress you. Give them a rating from Yeah! Eeeh… or Nah-Play the Yeah!'s, keep the Eeeh's in case you’re in the mood for exactly that or have run out of Yeah!'s. Uninstall the Nah's

For various platforms, be even more ruthless. To be completely honest, I’ve played to a significant degree maybe a quarter of the games I’ve bought from GOG. A third of them I bought because they were things I’d never seen back in the day and frankly I’m glad I only paid $6 because they were pretty shite. A third were games I bought to replace CDs or format shift from consoles/amiga and the final third were things I bought because I liked the idea of them being on GOG (figuring if I buy all the EA games that I liked, it might convince EA to release more game I liked). I look at GOGs in much the same way I do 1950s sci-fi movies, for every true classic like The Day The Earth Stood Still or The War Of The Worlds, there's a hundred buckets of shite like The Giant Claw or Plan 9 From Outer Space. The latter may be a lot of fun to watch but in a totally different way than the makers intended and it verges on cruel mockery, they’ll never go down in history as classics of the era.

I like that rating system and how to apply it.I’ve mostly used GOG as a way to get the classics that I used to play or wanted to play. I’ve been pretty conservative with purchases there. I don't consider it part of the pile of shame. Although some things there like Planescape Torment should probably be put on the priority list.

Like I showed you the other night, go through your pineapple and list out to 10 games on it you most want to play. Have a close but not quite part of the 10 games. PLay the games on that list.If you are tempted to buy another game look at the list and say I really want to play these games first.When you complete a game pick the next game you want to play the most. If you are choosing from this list based on playtime it isn't a bad thing, if nothing else it will give you a sense of progression and you have already decided these 10 are the ones you want to play the most

I also like howlongtobeat.com as it tracks completion dates so you can always go back and look at that

Yeah, top 10 looks like the way to go. I have posted it here now, so my Plan is Known, and that should hopefully make it harder to slip up and buy this game and that game as the year goes on. Smash Bros is still currently the biggest danger item of this year that I know about.I was also thinking that if I succeed in only buying one game all year, then maybe I could get that PS4 next January (if I still want it after going through this process for 12 months)

Well it may just be my avatar talking but I can't plead impartiality when it comes to PST, it's easily one of the best games I’ve ever played. Get it installed, mod it to get it up to super pretty high res and play the hell out of it

…There's hi res mods? It may be #1 PC RPG on the list now.

Thanks to the mods the game can run at 1920×1080 with a custom UI that fits the screen, as far as I remember the graphics are basically the same but they were always gorgeous anyway since they went for stylised over realism

http://thunderpeel2001.blogspot.com.au/2009/01/planescape-torment-fully-modded.htmlGood guide to installing the mods with the various versions of the game.

Here's what we did Christmas and Boxing Day 2013. I finally got around to editing the vid, I hope it's entertaining.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zZdw8NNFTA

Hotline Miami 2 slated for Q3 2014

https://twitter.com/HotlineMiami/status/428232783220047872

I really like Dark Souls but it sounds like Dark Souls 2 is going to be a horrible piece of shit.

Spoiler tagged for some reason (I don't see how this is remotely a spoiler, talking about changes to the invasion system):You’re going to start permanently losing health when you die, you can be invaded at any time, regardless of whether you’re human or not and matchmaking is based on time played instead of level.

So if you get stuck on a boss for a long time you’re probably going to be invaded by a player that's better than you and higher level, killed repeatedly and have it made progressively harder to play the game as a result. Flips the game from using death as a teaching tool to straight up penalizing you for being shit and not meeting its exacting standards.

That doesn't sound remotely fun to me.

Can you play Dark Souls offline? (genuinely don't know :P)

Yeah, whenever fucking GFWL fucks up it drops you out of the game you’re in and restarts itself in offline mode. It's fucking irritating because you have to re-launch the game to get it back again.

I … I really didn't want know any of those spoilers. I would have preferred for it to be a surprise. =/

Can we get some spoiler tags on that so it doesn't ruin it for anyone else?

How is this a spoiler?

Some folks are on media blackout, and that includes info about game mechanics.

NOT ME THOUGH! DARK SOULS \o/

IMO game mechanic changes are something you want to know about beforehand. Hype modifiers. If they’re making positive changes to things you wanted to see fixed then hype goes up, and if they’re negative then hype goes down.

In my case I learned a while back to always assume everything will be disappointing and shit because that's been how everything I get excited for turns out anyway.

Some people are doing the whole blackout thing. So no information on the game whatsoever.

I very clearly say I’m talking about Dark Souls 2 in the first sentence. If you’re on a media blackout but still read the rest I’m not sure how you can complain that there's spoilers there. It's not like it's something you can glance at and there's a big fat OMG CHARACTER X IS IN THE GAME AND DIES AT THE END or whatever in there.

Spoilered anyway but I think it's stupid.

How hard is it to press the spoiler button?

How hard is it to skip over a post that says it's about Dark Souls in the first sentence?

There's a fair and reasonable level of spoiler avoidance but if we have to put every bit of discussion about every minor detail of every game in spoiler tags because someone might not want to know then it’d get completely ridiculous.

Spoilered anyway but I think it's stupid.

Sooo, I’m stupid for liking to be on a complete media blackout because I want to go into a game with no info? If people don't play games the way you do I guess they are stupid aye?

I said it's stupid to spoiler tag something as minor as that (you’d better avoid reading any games news sites at all this week for because it's going to be in the article headline for anyone reporting it) not that you’re stupid for wanting to avoid spoilers.

The difference between calling something stupid and calling something they believe in stupid is a pretty fine line…

1. The game isn't even out yet, the polite thing to so is spoiler anything to do with story / anything that may impact the readers playing of the game.

2. I like to play a game with zero knowledge about a game. You are saying putting spoilers on mechanics about a game is stupid. Therefore you are calling me (or the very least the way I play games) stupid.

3. Just because I may see some spoilers from another source is not a legitimate reason to post possible spoilers.

Some people enjoy exploring a games mechanics. Some of the fun I had in Dark Souls was figuring out game mechanics.

My guess is that it’ll be tweaked to be a combination of level and time. The reason they’re changing it is to stop what's happening in Dark Souls: extremely highly-competent players with 100s of hours experience doing Onebro runs (staying at Soul Level 1) and invading newbies.

It had better be because I can imagine a situation where you’re getting repeatedly ganked by other players because you got stuck for eight hours unable to beat the fucking Capra Demon or similar. The game doesn't really scale with level as much as it does with gear. Good gear makes a massive difference, so someone could be similar level to you, similar time played, but vastly better gear and wipe you out easily as a result.

And if that in turn causes you to lose health each time then that’d be beyond shitty. I absolutely loathe any PVP in RPGs and refuse to ever go Human in Dark Souls because I don't want to play that sort of game. I’m time poor and having my time wasted because some dick wants to ruin my game experience for me is the absolute worst thing imaginable for me. Dark Souls is bearable and still enjoyable because I can just stay hollow and know that my experience will only be dictated by how much of a fuckup I am. If I’m interrupted mid-game I can go to a spot I cleared out and leave the game there without any chance I’m going to come back and find I’m dead.

I’m not sure which element I dislike the sound of more. The idea that you lose health because you died, or the idea that I’ll be constantly invaded with no way to stop it happening short of disconnecting my system from the internet completely. I think the losing health thing is worse though. "Hey we noticed you’re really struggling to beat this boss, so we decided to make it even harder for you." Blergh.

Probably will skip DS2 until this is clarified or changed somehow. It just sounds terrible to me.

The losing health thing can be countered after each death with a consumable item of some sort to restore humanity. It's a lot less punitive than Demon's Souls, which took 50% of your health any time you weren't fully human. And that game managed to work brilliantly, too.

There will be an adjustment period where everyone gets used to the new mechanics, just like the transition from Demon's to Dark Souls… but I genuinely think it’ll be good in the end 🙂

Yeah, a consumable item that you won't actually have and will need to find a vendor to buy it from. Using souls. Which you won't have if you’re stuck on a boss, because your pile of souls is going to be stuck in the boss room.

Demon's Souls was balanced around the assumption you’d be at 50% health. Going human literally made the game easier, and that's why they had the PVP element to act as a disincentive to being human. Dark Souls took the health penalty out so there wasn't as much of a PVE disbalance to being human since you can summon help in that state.

The way I’m reading the DS2 stuff sounds like the health decrease for dying is cumulative per death. Dying is the main mechanic for learning in this game, you’re expected to die repeatedly while you learn a boss or section. That's where the fun is. Penalizing you for that just seems unfair to me, and makes me pretty worried since the director of the game is different to the previous two and I’m worried he's missed the boat.

I probably won't buy it anyway so not sure why I even care.

I think you’ll find it's balanced for the lower health and not dying is just bonus. If not the Souls games aren't afraid to patch things drastically. Dark Souls was a VERY different game before v1.04. Much much harder and far more punishing.

That's the thing though, it doesn't seem like it's Demon's Souls style where you just drop to half and can't go lower. If it's cumulative then it’ll compound on itself unless they cap it.

Also it's just shitty in the first place because it’ll mean you can't do multiple runs at a boss without having to break your rhythm, stop and go farm some random mooks somewhere else for souls to get an item to heal yourself back to normal again. Difficult for the sake of being difficult.

I’m happy to be wrong. But I also won't get the game at release anyway, since I want it for PC or PS4 and I have absolutely zero trust in their ability to produce a working PC port at launch based off prior experience.

Maximum health reduction is 50%. This has been confirmed.

@shane: that makes me a lot happier about that change then. Still quite iffy on the other change though. I guess it depends if they balance it well.

Capped at 50%. So Demons Souls but more gradual.

ARCADE FIRE LAST NIGHT WAS AMAZING…Interspersing New Order's Temptation at the end of afterlife was absolutely genius…Also… Body is a Cage!!! I can die happy now…

You know how they sang Body is a Cage in the crowd? Well, I was sitting about 10 rows behind that. Though I didn't get any photos (and could barely even see it) because everybody was swarming down even closer in front of me to take photos 🙁

Catherine is $19.78 for Gold Xbox Live members. I’m extremely tempted.

Not bad! But still pretty bad. I’m expecting it to be in the 2 for $20 pile at JB Hifi soon.

I think it's going to be one of those games that doesn't get discounted too heavily, at least not in the immediate future. Maybe next year it’ll drop to bargain bin prices.

I never see copies anywhere, new or used. I think it might be one of those just-rare-enough-to-never-really-be-heavily-discounted type games.

I’ve seen it $25 for sure. But, now you mention it, I don't see copies floating around as readily. Good that I have it via PS+. 😛

I’ve never seen a copy on shelves! Been meaning to get it for ages!

It had a very small print run and is the sort of game people tend to hang onto, I doubt you’d ever see it in bargain bins.

What do you MEAN I already feel like I need lunch??

Early mornings are stupid.

I’ve been doing maintenance on a restaurant website all this morning. So many pictures of delicious food I can't eat… So many stomach grumblings…

*sigh* Australiahttp://9gag.com/gag/azbKKqz

It's the Northern Territory News they ALWAYS have headlines like this, it's awesome.

And now the internet is finding out. =P

I remember that headline from a few years back, I think even one of the papers up here ran the same article with the same headline lol.

Sounds…fun?

Bachelor party's are really something…

I don't know what's more distressing; the fact that this is a thing, or the comments on 9gag.

Question Time: What type of setting do you guys prefer reading about/playing in?

– Medieval fantasy– Futuristic science-fiction (including intergalactic travel)– Modern-day fantasy/science-fiction

I know a few people who will play games/read books set in one setting to the exclusion of the others so I’m curious what TAYbies prefer.

Yes.

Current-ish day sci fi > Medieval fantasy >>>> Futuristic sci fi

OK, serious: I generally like a good future sf, but will read anything- I’m omnivorous.

I gathered that from your "Yes". All good. 🙂

Don't care as long as it's interesting, well-written and the world is well-built and defined.

If I had to express any preference, it's that Tolkien-esque Medieval High Fantasy has been done to death and I find it a bit less interesting. Same goes for anything that steals most of its ideas from Aliens and/or Starship Troopers. If the setting has something a bit more unique and interesting that hasn't been done as often then I’m probably going to be more interested to begin with, but overall execution is what counts.

It's funny – I read a lot of fantasy / sci fi, but that may be because I’ve found it easier to find good authors that can paint the whole picture of settings and characters without any assumed knowledge to fall back on. The author is more important than the setting. I found this best proven to me when I read ‘Shane’ by Jack Schaefer. Never would have thought I’d enjoy something in a western setting. Then Red Dead Redemption smashed that one out of the park.

Futuristic and Modern day Science fiction 🙂 Modern day Fantasy would be cool too

For those interested, I like a lot of medieval fantasy that has a twist on the bog standard. I really like Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, the Witcher series, and the Warhammer Fantasy world. I like the other ones too but fantasy comes out on top.

Futuristic Sci-fi, cuz spaceship/fleet battles are always something my imagination goes crazy on, when reading about, watching or playing. Then medieval fantasy, I enjoyed Guild Wars so much back in the day that I’ve made bios on my own guild wars characters, all 10 of them.

I’m okay with all of those! Not sure if I have a preference – all those genres have some excellent fiction.

I like the modern day fantasy/sci-fi the best (it's usually referred to as urban fantasy), future sci-fi and fantasy follow in that order

Medieval fantasy is #1 for me.Futuristic sci-fi is #2.Modern day anything is usually pretty uninteresting to me. I read and play to escape.

All of the above but moreso futuristic sci-fi. Games in this genre seem to be limited but some of my favourite ever experiences have been in games like Mass Effect, Halo, various Star Wars games, Galactic Civilizations, etc.

But that doesn't stop me also adoring modern-day sci-fi (or even non-sci fi like GTA), or medieval fantasy like Skyrim or anything loosely based on something like D&D.

Reading – ‘futurisitic scifi. The Limits of where what stories you can tell, what can be done and where you can go are limitless.Playing – Medieval fantasy. It can be peaceful one minute and hectic the next. Often in futurstic or modern based games there seems to be a need for it to be busy all the time so I can't really relax properly while playing one.Modern day fantasy/sci-fi, I’m not really a fan of. Post apocalyptic fantasy set in the modern day I can get by with, but I don't really like reading about the world I live in when it comes to fiction unless it's something like Harry Potter or, say Hellboy which actually adds that new dimension to what can be done

High Fantasy will always be my first love, though I’m also a big fan of the others.

Medieval fantasy > Futuristic science-fiction (including intergalactic travel) > Modern-day fantasy/science-fiction

I want a contemporary RPG, something like Alpha Protocol but given enough time to actually be finished…

Hmm… Interesting. I know I typically don't like modern fantasy. All futuristic sci-fi seems the same to me. I suppose I prefer medieval.But I suppose it comes down more to the actual world-building and how the genre is twisted. Although I have little experience with either, Halo and Star Trek barely seem like the same genre. In a similar vein to my earlier statement, Dead Space is very Star Trek-esque in some of its world-building, yet it is set apart by the intrigue of the Marker and everything that comes with it. (Necromorphs, hallucinations, etc)

When it comes to Medieval, I can't be sure whether you are referring to actual Medieval-style worlds, (A song of Ice and Fire) or Tolkien-eqsue worlds. I am okay with either as long as it is done well.

Turn on the pinball machine for the first time in a good couple of years. Screen doesn't activate, game won't start! /o\

Turn it off an on a few times. It's alive! \o/

The graphics are amazing… That ball almost seems real!

Some really nice work with the physics engine too. They should license that thing out.

I hope you don't get forced to pay microtransactions

Well… I heard multiball would be an on-machine DLC exclusive to EB

The game cries out for variety, however. I wish they’d stuck in a vehicle section or an escort mission, just to have some diversity in the gameplay department.

So, if anyone is interested, Just Cause 2 Multiplayer tonight, probably around 8:00pm AEDT (should give enough time to play without excluding people?). There’ll be a couple of first-timers playing, so if you want to give it a go for the first time now is a good chance!If you have the game installed but not the mod, you only need to download about 20MB, and it's free. Also, TeamSpeak is suggested but not mandatory.

Let me know if the time needs to be adjusted.

@cakesmith @sernobulus @mythamphetamine @pixel_the_ferret_viking @rocketman

I’m OK with this…Now to remember how to actually play that game

Tether everything together and drive as fast as possible into mountains.

Tether everything together and drive as fast as possible into mountains Rize.

Fixed.

The most important rule of the game, never stop holding the "Shift" key.

excellent!

Is this going to be an ongoing thing? If so I might look at re-installing JC2

Broken Age is incredibly good so far. I agree with @sughly, the controls are a little too simplistic. Setting, characters and writing are amazing though.

The overriding thought I had while playing it was, "This is a game I would get my hypothetical kid to play."

Oh man, me and my hypothetical kid have had so much fun!

Any ways, back to it!

https://new.livestream.com/accounts/4164925/events/2726395

Ideally, yes. Buuut, Ash, even at 9 nearly 10, started to get sidetracked pretty quick. He's enjoyed it, just doesnt have the same patience we had with point and clicks as kids. Didnt sit through the whole thing with me.

Out of curiosity, what order did you play in?

I went with the guy and then the girl.

yeah same

You guess the twist at all? I totally didn't and feel slow witted afterwards. ALL THE CLUES WERE THERE. Excellent misdirection with the whole space thing.

Yeah, I didnt either, was reaaaally well done. No idea how he pulled it off without people guessing

Wait, what happened to the live stream you were going to do?

Nevermind.

Hm. Actually, might just edit to say… *facepalm* Giving lip at work is a TERRIFIC idea and I highly recommend self-sabotage! Hopefully brutal criticism of this ridiculous survey is taken on board.

*sage nod*

If you’re editing, I’m editing too.

*jumps off cliff like Lemming*

Tch, okay fine I’ll put it back.

All questions multiple choice, preferably.

Oh, they were multiple choice, but they were also two-page questions with fifteen possible responses, each of which was a five-sentence answer with MAYBE 1-3 words difference between them. They included a four page PDF reference guide to use as an answer key.

And then they run around complaining that no-one's actually responding to the survey. The mind boggles.

I had a university exam like that once.

All multiple choice questions. Between 10 and 15 options per question, some only differing in minor ways. Multiple correct answers, but the number of correct answers per question wasn't fixed. All questions worth the same number of points so no way to infer how many to circle. Select all correct answers to get full points for the question. Select any wrong answer and you get 0 for the question, to discourage guessing.

Most people failed, because they were too scared to select things they thought were right but were not 100% sure.

I zoomed through it, selected what I thought was right, left 20 mins into the 3 hour period and got an HD for the exam. I thought it was the best thing ever until I found out how many people had failed it.

That sounds profoundly irresponsible, showing a clear lack of respect for students and being a very poor way of assessing knowledge. You didn't go to Charles Sturt University in Wagga as well did you?

Nope but I can't rule out the possibility that someone involved with designing the exam was a graduate from there.

I love that my citizenship test will be multiple choice. I wonder what’ll happen if I mark ‘A’ for each question

Just write "Bonz" before it and "MATE!" afterwards and you’ll pass

Where’d that wall of text go 😛

I loved the only time I was able to give my manager honest feedback. Working in a supermarket, he came in from higher up, rumour was he had no store management experience and this was his last chance to perform or he's out (not sure how true those rumours were but I can believe them). Basically the guy had no man management skills. Sure he made sure the girls in the HR office liked him but half the staff in the store where school kids & uni students who he couldn't give a rats ass about. Long story short, we made a facebook page about how we hated him, between 1-200 people in it, people higher up catch wind of it and we think we’re getting in the shit over it but he's the one who gets a phonecall asking why his staff feel the need to join such a group.

Another long story short, we get called into small group sessions with him and he asks us to give him honest feedback about what we thought of him. Everyone else was fairly quiet, I took the opportunity and went for it (being polite). I think I used the word ogre to describe his behaviour. After that he made and effort to remember my name

Spoilers to avoid caustic overflow:"Why hasn't anyone completed the Business Capability survey?"

"Probably because you only live once, and life's too short for that. Your first clue to low response should’ve been when you had to attach a 4-page PDF reference guide to use as an answer key. Surveys should be short and succinct, not two-page questions which have a series of fifteen five-sentence response choices which only vary by 1-3 words each. If you measure progress stats I’m going to bet that 90% of respondents who stared at your wall of text and made an honest effort probably gave up by the third question. You might be going for precision, but there's a limit to how useful precision is if your sample size is a dozen people. Not to mention that the majority of capabilities you’re measuring are primarily management functions, which you didn't include an ‘N/A’ field for the 80% of the processing-based workforce to respond with, leaving them confused and unable to relate. I don't mean to be unkind, but I can't believe anyone in Corporate Communications approved this without the express intention of torpedoing your project."

Just answer all the open questions like they were multiple choice.

"How do you feel we could best improve ‘X’? "

"c"

The best way to improve X is clearly TC

Just a reminder that there's a Brisbane meat on Saturday.

Dinner/drinks at Cyber City in The Valley most likely (I think @dkzeitgeist is making a reservation) with karaoke afterwards. Already have had a fair few people confirm. Just a reminder anyways!

@transientmind, @sernobulus, @beardymcmuttonchops, @popdart5, @virus__, @lambomann007, @sughly, @freezespreston, @jimu, @gutsoup, @welbot…

Also, @bdkiaf and @rocketman will be there! WOOOOO!

Not sure if I can do Sat night. Apparently my brother is doing an "Anime Viewing" night. Should be interesting.

Brother? Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame

Won't be able to make it I have other commitments that day.

laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame

Not really, I like going to gigs. Live music is boss! Especially when I know the band 😛

Won't be able to make that one, but it sounds like fun – hope folks have a blast.

la-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame

Yup. 🙂

Laaaaaaaaaaaaa…oh.

Pssssst, bring @gutsoup again! GUTSOOOOOUP!

Is he comin?Everytime I ask he dodges the question!

No response yet! I suggest some form of kidnapping?

@dc agreed

I’ve been unsure is why I haven't confirmed, we have a house inspection so I’m going to be cleaning, I like the thought of the meat and would like to come to get a break from cleaning. Jess was thinking of tagging along this time too. @dc please don't kidnap me I’m prone to stockholme syndrome, I might just fall in love with you 😛

@gutsoup Yissssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!

what time's this due to happen? Not sure I can afford it really, but I may be able to swing by for a meet and greet prior to dinner, depending on what time/where you guys meet up. Also, did I see @rocketman asking round for a place to sleep or something on twitter the other day? (I think I caught a glimpse of something along those lines when I checked twitter on my phone during lunch, but didn't have time to check if it was sorted etc.)

Hyyyyyyyyype!

Welp, my mind just expanded and contracted at the speed of light, yet again.

Apparently there was a girl born who was named CVIIILIAN. How's it pronounced? Kaitlyn.

Le-a

Never forget.

We see a lot of school enrolment lists at work. Man, some of the kids’ names… I should write some down next time 😛

I’m tempted to do that too, but feel like I’d probably get in trouble 😛

My sister's boyfriend had some work placement for his course that had him in a paediatrics section or something. Apparently the staff there had a book full of entries of kids with weird names that got added to whenever a new admission caught someone's eye 😛

Should have made it CVITLVN for added Romanism.

See, I was wondering why you’d name a kid "civilian"

To distinguish it from its sibling, Military?

Sorry, that name should be pronounced "Thousandilitary"

Ahh I apologise for any annoyance caused. You see no one had provided me with a pronunciation guide (incidentally, "Pronunciation Guide" is pronounced as "John Smith")

I once had a few classes with a kid named Hardick. Nobody really said anything, yet a teacher admitted it was the most bizarre name he’d come across.

Should get back to tidying the house.

Just one more game…

Just leave it until the last hour before your mum returns home. It's what I do! =P

Pro life tip for anybody reading this: substitute mum for wife and the same thing still happens when you move out and get married.

I learnt that I can wash dishes at triple the normal speed when I’m up against the clock.

and at least 6 times more dirty than if you do it properly. 😛

…are we still talking about the dishes?

Just assume im always talking in euphemism. Its what my mum does, she is very disappointed in me. My gran hasn't figured it out yet so she just things im being strange.

Rapid washing up is why they invented those squirty guns you put on the end of the garden hose isn't it?

That's for the cleanup after having people over 😛

A cyclone means i might not get to go to Brisbane.I know its trivial in comparision to the farmers and shop owners and housholders who might get flooded but I’m a little annoyed. I guess thats what happens when you live here.

I have been thinking why anyone likes it here6 months of the year, its hot and sticky and ickyWe have all manner of bad weatherMore poisonous snakes than anywhere in AustraliaPrices of houses and renting a huge in comparison to the rest of Australia

Sure for 6 months of the year its terrific weather and beautiful (how is the serenity)Is one six month period worth the other???I don't care what anyone says it is hotter and more unpleasant here than just about anywhere.

It's extended camping either way.

"Prices of houses and renting a huge in comparison to the rest of Australia"

You sure?

Considering i live in a far less built up area than a bigger city the prices are fairly massive.

Anywhere near mining towns tend to get their rents marked up to astronomical levels to gouge the miners. Anyone not involved in making sweet mining money is just collateral damage.

Not just rents, everything in mining towns is freaking expensive.

Well the prices I’m looking at for Townsville don't really reflect that, hence my reservation.Although, I suppose paying any large sum to live in an area which is attempting to murder you half the time is asking a bit much.

Motley Crue announced their farewell tour this morning, so far there's 72 dates and they’re strictly North America only, sure hope that isn't it.. If it is then that's a dick move.

until the next reunion…

Seriously though, I’d like to go see them for the spectacle. I was dying to go to the Kiss & Motley Crue gig last year(?). I’m not a massive fan of either but it would’ve been one hell of a show

I think this will be the last time they’re going to be together for tourings sake, they’ve been a band for 33/34 years now, it's a long time to put up with one another and everyone in the band would be sitting pretty and probably just wants to do their own thing more permanently, after all Tommy & his DJ thing, Vince with his Vodka line & solo career, Nikki with his radio show, Sixx AM & his photography and Mick with his solo career and appearing on everyone elses albums now.

After this next time we probably see them perform together is if they ever get inducted to the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame.

I went, it was great. My first concert, but both bands sounded awesome and gave a hell of a performance for their age.

This is what I heard, though some random customer I was talking to at work who was wearing the tour shirt said The Crue blew KISS out of the water which surprised me since KISS are pretty solid live and The Crue has been hit & miss since the mid 90's when Vince rejoined.

Crue did some more intense shit, like the drummer going upside down on a massive wheel. KISS did zip-line across the crowd though and have them lifted in the air with wings and smoke and fireworks and bang bang guitar solo.

Yeah, Tommy & his roller coaster drum kit. I remember reading about that in their book The Dirt 10 years ago, was nice to see him make it a reality at long last. The Crue always know how to put on an awesome stage show, Carnival of Sins (2005 tour when they got back together after hiatus) was AWESOME. The amount of production in those 2.5 hours was something.

Didn't know about the KISS stage show, but that doesn't surprise they love putting on a hell of a show too. Those 2 on tour together is a great match, likewise their current final tour with Alice Cooper, he's another great performer who puts on an amazing stage show and show.

Wrote a thing: http://www.pixel-otaku.com/red-rants-games-are-political/

Very interesting – needed way more Mass Effect and Deus Ex, though 😛

Maaaan I’ve never seen humanity be such immature brats until I played Mass Effect, only been in the galactic community for less than 100 years and they already wanted to be in charge! 😛

All hail the Geth consensus!

The problem with humanity, and this is addressed in the first game, is that they only live for 100 – 150 years MAX. They’re way impatient compared to Asari that live for like a thousand. Of course they seem like spoiled brats.

I wonder how many generations of the short-lived Salarian race it took for them to be able to join the council.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a really interesting example- A year or two later and people in it would have been chanting "We are the 99.99%!"

Interesting read. The nature of a political messages in video games is that it can either be really impactful or it could fall flat on its face. I suppose political messages only really work unless it is presented as a straight allegory, or the message is kept clandestine, and the player draws their own conclusions. I hope this spurs a good debate in the comments section.

Never mind.

:O! How scandalous!

EDIT: I’ll edit out my proper reaction too, then…

You can't tell me what to do

http://www.polygon.com/2014/1/28/5355772/final-fantasy-character-designer-joins-unsung-story-team My interest level just went from slightly interested to I’ll be backing this when I get a chance tonight.

A Matsuno SRPG without Akihiko Yoshida isn't a true Matsuno SRPG.

One of the clients I have to deal with always ends sentences in emails with "…" – It makes her seem super uninterested/sarcastic.

"Hi…""Please can you look into this asap…""Thanks, I appreciate it…"

…

ok…

…

I get that from my manager a lot, feels like some sort of passive form of passive-aggressiveness in email form when I read them 😛

yeeeaaah…So if you could go ahead and try to remember to do that from now on…that’d be… grrreat…

Saw that movie recently, was pretty funny.TPS reports xD

Every now and then you see people doing that at the end of every sentence online, in place of commas and full stops. It's very annoying because it makes them seem vague and uninterested.

I do it on occasion but more to indicate an awkward silence after a stupid statement.

when I do it it's mostly leaving a space for the reader to complete the thought on their own

Urgh, I can't believe the crap I have to look up as part of my job/because people don't know how to Google.

My co-worker looks after Uni students travelling overseas. A student wants to go to Alaska. So she turns to me, looks me right in the eye and says "Do you know what the capital of Alaska is?"In front of her I open up a tab, go to Google, type in that EXACT question. I point to the results and say "Juneau."And you know what she says?"No I don't, that's why I’m asking you."

Oh dad joke page six, I look forward to you every week.

Not sure if joke or true story.

Fantastic

God dammit. Trying to help people with Smough and Ornstein but they keep getting invaded by cheap trolls who do nothing but circle for a backstab.

Thank fuck DS2 is taking the invulnerable frames out of backstabbing.

Isn't backstabbing all that PvP is though? That's my only experience with it :\

For people who are incapable of combat yes. Once you get SL120 head to the Kiln and see what PvP is supposed to look like.

Will do! All my invasions turn into frantic circling matches until my inevitable death :'(

I’ve never actually had a backstabbing PvP since I was first in the Undead Burg. Most of mine have been legit duels, with polite bowing and everything!

\o/

I always bow, and usually get bowed to (except by one guy that killed me mid bow), but then it's just backstabbing :\Or incredibly powerful magic attacks that are ridiculous :\

I just ‘won’ the ‘most laid back person’ at our work Australia Day lunch. I think I should feel proud? I got a thong for my troubles

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153824641945347&l=bf26f8ffe9

Finished Broken Age. Took me 3.7 hours according to Steam. Insanely fun game, loved every minute. A bit too easy though, only got stuck once. At the same time, there's nothing wrong with always having something to do without backtracking for three hours. I loved it.

Yeah, I need to finish that. I’m at:

Shellmound for Vella, and I’ve only really played a little of Shay's story.

I found one of the shellmound puzzles very tricky because you can use up or give away one of the items you need to progress.

I’ve not done any puzzles in Shellmound yet, but I figure you can walk all the way back to the clouds if you need something

That's correct but I didn't realize you could do that for ages.

Yeah, that one stumped me for longer than any of the others.

(Edit: And then I slapped myself upside the head SO HARD.)

The most infuriating of the puzzles was:The final boss fight. There is such a red herring there. When you get snatched up by both hands, his mouth opens a bit. Doesn't do it otherwise! SO misleading! I spent so long just hanging out for that!

Yeah, that one in spoiler space is where I was stuck the most. Probably the only time I was stuck for more than a minute or so.

I didn't really get stuck on that. I did get stuck on the bit where you’re in the clouds and need to bypass the dude stuck on the tree. Assumed that you needed to help/knock him down or give him something to stop you getting past. Didn't realize you could fall down behind him. That had me stuck about 10 minutes.

Man… I wonder what happened to that guy, I don't remember seeing him again.…I feel kinda bad about that.

WOOOOOO!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Been actually watching my playthrough from the live stream. XD

Milk is the fastest liquid on Earth. It's past your eyes before it even gets to the supermarket.

#dadjokepagesix

Mini Arcade Fire concert review:The show was good, though a little uneven in my opinion (probably due to playing some of the weaker stuff on Reflektor: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/arcade-fire/2014/qantas-credit-union-arena-sydney-australia-63c5dae3.html ?). Very strong through the middle with Afterlife/Sprawl II/No Cars Go/Keep the Car Running. Wonderful effect when they let off confetti cannons during Here Comes the Nighttime and filled the entire venue with glittering lights.

Still no competition for the first/best international concert I ever saw: Pulp. That Win guy is no Jarvis Effing Cocker.

Oh man, they did that confetti thing at the Big Day Out too. Was outside venue and sun was actually setting and was incredible. 😀

I had seen a photo of that and was trying to work out which effect would be better. Sunsets are awesome, but any breeze would disperse the cloud. Indoors, it hung in the air well after the song finished and the intentionally aimed lights coloured them really well. I guess the only conclusion is that it's cool regardless.

I noticed the confetti randomly flying through Pearl Jam later on that night. XD

I think you probably got the best version, though. I would’ve killed to see these guys in Brisbane Entertainment Centre. Much more controlled environment, like you said!

Ginger Chris posted a photo of the confetti on Facebook. Looked all kinds of pretty!

@sughly took a photo too at BDO!

http://www.kramsdesign.com/misc/bdo2014/20140119_194028.jpg

I’ve got a few that I’ll post later when I get a chance. I recorded a couple of songs for you too, but man, that bass. All you hear is BWWWWMBWWWWWWMBWWWMCars GoBWWWWWWWWWWWM.

The guy next to me was recording. I feel sorry for him if it picks up my singing. XD

My recordings actually came up quite well… I got all of Ready to start. and about 1 minute each of afterlife and no cars go

For all of you https://www.dropbox.com/sc/tpa63ewo9aymmhn/It0O0ANv1YThe vids are between 100 and 500 mb but the pics should be fine

Cheers! I’ll let you know when mine are available.

Tuxedo onesie arrived. 😀

You guys want modelling pix later, right??

You could cosplay as Tuxedo Mask! All you need is a rose.

No.

We want them now.

You post that, I’ll post my lion pics 😉

Where's those lion pics?

I’ll take them tonight for you 🙂 Sexy Lion or playful Lion? :p

Both. ;D

Pixel Otaku wanted fake mugshots for the film. You could take the mugshot wearing it.

@shane That new Triumviratus art is really cool

Thanks, man. Really appreciate it! 🙂

\o/ The Living End has been announced for Soundwave, this will be my 10th time seeing them, fuck yeah 😀

Edit: they replaced Stone Temple Pilots, I am okay with this..

They were the first guys I ever paid money to go and see perform.

Row Z, aww yeah.

How long ago was that?

They’re amazing live. Easily top 5 live bands for me.

That would have beeeeeen… somewhere around 2004 I think? Maybe 2005? At the Enmore theatre.

Saw them a second time a year or two later when Triple M were doing those random free concerts around the place, they had them playing at Manly so I took a ferry over with some friends. Got Chris Cheney to sign my wallet 😛 Can't remember if I’ve ended up seeing them again since, but they’re great to watch performing.

Oh nice! I felt they were at their prime around State of Emergency in 05/06.

Haha nice, hope you still have that wallet! My mate got his guitar signed by Chris, he has a Gretsch White Falcon, identical to one of Chris’ many guitars haha. He also some how scored Chris’ old Wizard cab speakers.. He knows his guitar tech or something I think, lucky bugger lol.

Was RowZ anything like DayZ?

Similar, but with less threat of death and much easier to escape from.

As long as there was starvation, dehydration and mindless mobs

@popdart5: I suspect you’ve stopped playing – I’m currently taking a break as well – but FYI today's KanColle update adds two new destroyers. Not announced which yet (there's still about 40-50 IJN destroyers not in the game, include several complete classes)

Also semi-relatedly, Himeji Castle waifu from the upcoming Shiro-hime Quest. Which I’ll probably try out due to morbid curiosity.

New Destroyers are both Mutsuki-class. Yayoi and Uzuki. Part of the destroyer class that mainly wear the black dresses with white ties that kind of look like they’re part of the mafia or something.

EDIT: Also it looks like Hachi (I-8) is now buildable at the same rarity rate as I-58. Oddly the easier-to-obtain in the events I-19 seems to remain unbuildable.

I think this means the only ones unobtainable right now are Musashi and I-19.

Yeah I’ve stopped playing for the moment. Still interesting to hear that there is a lot that can be added to KanColle so hopefully my interest recovers at some point.

There's heaps of scope for adding more stuff. Extra systems are still incoming eg. there's no friend system at all yet. I’m going to keep at it for a bit, but its on the back burner for now because I basically hit a wall where I need to grind XP for several under-leveled ships to complete the worlds I’m up to and that's going to take ages.

Welp, you probably won't be playing any more either. Latest update DMM seem to have done something that makes API links expire after two hours so you have to play over a slow-ass VPN to get in now, otherwise it’ll boot you with a network error every few hours. Basically cut off all the foreign players and a lot of JP ones too. Disappointing.

I was under the impression that was always the case. Or at least it was for me as I used to VPN my way to start playing and then turn it off to get a better speed. It always used to boot me from the game after about an hour or so. Mind you, I was using a pretty basic free VPN so that could’ve have been the reason why.

That was probably the VPN being shit. I’ve used the same API key, no VPN, to access the game for the last 3 months.

Last night I dreamed I was drowning in an ocean made out of orange soda. After trying to analyse it to find deeper meaning, I realized it was nothing more than a Fanta sea.

Upvote, but can tell it's a copypasta due to the Americanised ‘soda’. 😛

I was going to go with carbonated beverage, but it just seemed a little too serious!

"fizzy drink" would probably have been colloquial enough to sound natural and general enough to not sound American.

Is price an issue for the PAX meat?

My appearance fee is really quite reasonable, you won't need to save up much.

I mean, are people bothered by a price per person that's rather high.I need to speak to the people at kingpin because they say they have karaoke but there's no other information

$1000pp is probably too much.

it ranges between $45 and 85 PP but that includes one game of bowling/laser tag, 1st drink and food.

Personally that doesn't sound too bad. Not sure what other people are looking to spend once you add travel/accomm etc

Well if more of us chip in then his appearance fee would be considerably less per person.

…What PAX meat? I missed this.

On the Saturday, at about 6-8 pm on wards, there will be a meat, so you can meet all the taybies

Hawt stuff. I imagine we’ll be pooped by that time anyways, so ready to relax and have dinner with some drinks. If you could remember to tag me in future stuffs that would be grand!

It will most likely be karaoke. It's what we did last year.

Bar first? I will need plentiful alcohol before karaoke becomes a reality. 😛

Don't panic. There is 3 bars there

Massive Joke ahead (no joke, it’ll take you an hour and a half to read):The Longest Jokein the World* * *Lost in the Desert

So, there's a man crawling through the desert.

He’d decided to try his SUV in a little bit of cross-country travel, had great fun zooming over the badlands and through the sand, got lost, hit a big rock, and then he couldn't get it started again. There were no cell phone towers anywhere near, so his cell phone was useless. He had no family, his parents had died a few years before in an auto accident, and his few friends had no idea he was out here.

He stayed with the car for a day or so, but his one bottle of water ran outand he was getting thirsty. He thought maybe he knew the direction back, now that he’d paid attention to the sun and thought he’d figured out which way was north, so he decided to start walking. He figured he only had to go about 30 miles or so and he’d be back to the small town he’d gotten gas in last.

He thinks about walking at night to avoid the heat and sun, but based uponhow dark it actually was the night before, and given that he has no flashlight, he's afraid that he’ll break a leg or step on a rattlesnake. So,he puts on some sun block, puts the rest in his pocket for reapplicationlater, brings an umbrella he’d had in the back of the SUV with him to givehim a little shade, pours the windshield wiper fluid into his water bottlein case he gets that desperate, brings his pocket knife in case he finds a cactus that looks like it might have water in it, and heads out in thedirection he thinks is right.

He walks for the entire day. By the end of the day he's really thirsty. He'sbeen sweating all day, and his lips are starting to crack. He's reapplied the sunblock twice, and tried to stay under the umbrella, but he still feels sunburned. The windshield wiper fluid sloshing in the bottle in his pocket is really getting tempting now. He knows that it's mainly water and some ethanol and coloring, but he also knows that they add some kind of poison to it to keep people from drinking it. He wonders what the poison is, andwhether the poison would be worse than dying of thirst.

He pushes on, trying to get to that small town before dark.

By the end of the day he starts getting worried. He figures he's been walking at least 3 miles an hour, according to his watch for over 10 hours. That means that if his estimate was right that he should be close to thetown. But he doesn't recognize any of this. He had to cross a dry creek bed a mile or two back, and he doesn't remember coming through it in the SUV. He figures that maybe he got his direction off just a little and that the dry creek bed was just off to one side of his path. He tells himself that he's close, and that after dark he’ll start seeing the town lights over one of these hills, and that’ll be all he needs.

As it gets dim enough that he starts stumbling over small rocks and things,he finds a spot and sits down to wait for full dark and the town lights.

Full dark comes before he knows it. He must have dozed off. He stands backup and turns all the way around. He sees nothing but stars.

He wakes up the next morning feeling absolutely lousy. His eyes are gummy and his mouth and nose feel like they’re full of sand. He so thirsty that he can't even swallow. He barely got any sleep because it was so cold. He’d forgotten how cold it got at night in the desert and hadn't noticed it the night before because he’d been in his car.

He knows the Rule of Threes – three minutes without air, three days without water, three weeks without food – then you die. Some people can make it a little longer, in the best situations. But the desert heat and having to walk and sweat isn't the best situation to be without water. He figures, unless he finds water, this is his last day.

He rinses his mouth out with a little of the windshield wiper fluid. He waits a while after spitting that little bit out, to see if his mouth goes numb, or he feels dizzy or something. Has his mouth gone numb? Is it just inhis mind? He's not sure. He’ll go a little farther, and if he still doesn'tfind water, he’ll try drinking some of the fluid.

Then he has to face his next, harder question – which way does he go from here? Does he keep walking the same way he was yesterday (assuming that he still knows which way that is), or does he try a new direction? He has no idea what to do.

Looking at the hills and dunes around him, he thinks he knows the direction he was heading before. Just going by a feeling, he points himself somewhat to the left of that, and starts walking.

As he walks, the day starts heating up. The desert, too cold just a couple of hours before, soon becomes an oven again. He sweats a little at first, and then stops. He starts getting worried at that – when you stop sweating he knows that means you’re in trouble – usually right before heat stroke.

He decides that it's time to try the windshield wiper fluid. He can't waitany longer – if he passes out, he's dead. He stops in the shade of a largerock, takes the bottle out, opens it, and takes a mouthful. He slowlyswallows it, making it last as long as he can. It feels so good in his dryand cracked throat that he doesn't even care about the nasty taste. He takesanother mouthful, and makes it last too. Slowly, he drinks half the bottle.He figures that since he's drinking it, he might as well drink enough tomake some difference and keep himself from passing out.

He's quit worrying about the denaturing of the wiper fluid. If it kills him,it kills him – if he didn't drink it, he’d die anyway. Besides, he's prettysure that whatever substance they denature the fluid with is just designed to make you sick – their way of keeping winos from buying cheap wiper fluid for the ethanol content. He can handle throwing up, if it comes to that.

He walks. He walks in the hot, dry, windless desert. Sand, rocks, hills,dunes, the occasional scrawny cactus or dried bush. No sign of water.Sometimes he’ll see a little movement to one side or the other, but whatever moved is usually gone before he can focus his eyes on it. Probably birds, lizards, or mice. Maybe snakes, though they usually move more at night. He's careful to stay away from the movements.

After a while, he begins to stagger. He's not sure if it's fatigue, heatstroke finally catching him, or maybe he was wrong and the denaturing of the wiper fluid was worse than he thought. He tries to steady himself, and keep going.

After more walking, he comes to a large stretch of sand. This is good! Heknows he passed over a stretch of sand in the SUV – he remembers doingdonuts in it. Or at least he thinks he remembers it – he's getting woozyenough and tired enough that he's not sure what he remembers any more or ifhe's hallucinating. But he thinks he remembers it. So he heads off into it,trying to get to the other side, hoping that it gets him closer to the town.

He was heading for a town, wasn't he? He thinks he was. He isn't sure any more. He's not even sure how long he's been walking any more. Is it still morning? Or has it moved into afternoon and the sun is going down again? It must be afternoon – it seems like it's been too long since he started out.

He walks through the sand.

After a while, he comes to a big dune in the sand. This is bad. He doesn'tremember any dunes when driving over the sand in his SUV. Or at least hedoesn't think he remembers any. This is bad.

But, he has no other direction to go. Too late to turn back now. He figuresthat he’ll get to the top of the dune and see if he can see anything fromthere that helps him find the town. He keeps going up the dune.

Halfway up, he slips in the bad footing of the sand for the second or thirdtime, and falls to his knees. He doesn't feel like getting back up – he’lljust fall down again. So, he keeps going up the dune on his hand and knees.

While crawling, if his throat weren't so dry, he’d laugh. He's finallygotten to the hackneyed image of a man lost in the desert – crawling throughthe sand on his hands and knees. If would be the perfect image, he imagines, if only his clothes were more ragged. The people crawling through the desertin the cartoons always had ragged clothes. But his have lasted without anyrips so far. Somebody will probably find his dessicated corpse half buried in the sand years from now, and his clothes will still be in fine shape –shake the sand out, and a good wash, and they’d be wearable again. He wishes his throat were wet enough to laugh. He coughs a little instead, and it hurts.

He finally makes it to the top of the sand dune. Now that he's at the top,he struggles a little, but manages to stand up and look around. All he seesis sand. Sand, and more sand. Behind him, about a mile away, he thinks hesees the rocky ground he left to head into this sand. Ahead of him, moredunes, more sand. This isn't where he drove his SUV. This is Hell. Or close enough.

Again, he doesn't know what to do. He decides to drink the rest of the wiperfluid while figuring it out. He takes out the bottle, and is removing thecap, when he glances to the side and sees something. Something in the sand. At the bottom of the dune, off to the side, he sees something strange. It's a flat area, in the sand. He stops taking the cap of the bottle off, and tries to look closer. The area seems to be circular. And it's dark – darker than the sand. And, there seems to be something in the middle of it, but he can't tell what it is. He looks as hard as he can, and still can tell fromhere. He's going to have to go down there and look.

He puts the bottle back in his pocket, and starts to stumble down the dune.After a few steps, he realizes that he's in trouble – he's not going to be able to keep his balance. After a couple of more sliding, tottering steps, he falls and starts to roll down the dune. The sand it so hot when his body hits it that for a minute he thinks he's caught fire on the way down – like a movie car wreck flashing into flames as it goes over the cliff, before it ever even hits the ground. He closes his eyes and mouth, covers his face with his hands, and waits to stop rolling.

He stops, at the bottom of the dune. After a minute or two, he finds enoughenergy to try to sit up and get the sand out of his face and clothes. Whenhe clears his eyes enough, he looks around to make sure that the dark spotin the sand it still there and he hadn't just imagined it.

So, seeing the large, flat, dark spot on the sand is still there, he beginsto crawl towards it. He’d get up and walk towards it, but he doesn't seem tohave the energy to get up and walk right now. He must be in the final stagesof dehydration he figures, as he crawls. If this place in the sand doesn'thave water, he’ll likely never make it anywhere else. This is his lastchance.

He gets closer and closer, but still can't see what's in the middle of thedark area. His eyes won't quite focus any more for some reason. And liftinghis head up to look takes so much effort that he gives up trying. He justkeeps crawling.

Finally, he reaches the area he’d seen from the dune. It takes him a minute of crawling on it before he realizes that he's no longer on sand – he's now crawling on some kind of dark stone. Stone with some kind of marking on it – a pattern cut into the stone. He's too tired to stand up and try to see what the pattern is – so he just keeps crawling. He crawls towards the center,where his blurry eyes still see something in the middle of the dark stonearea.

His mind, detached in a strange way, notes that either his hands and knees are so burnt by the sand that they no longer feel pain, or that this darkstone, in the middle of a burning desert with a pounding, punishing sunoverhead, doesn't seem to be hot. It almost feels cool. He considers lyingdown on the nice cool surface.

Cool, dark stone. Not a good sign. He must be hallucinating this. He'sprobably in the middle of a patch of sand, already lying face down anddying, and just imagining this whole thing. A desert mirage. Soon thebeautiful women carrying pitchers of water will come up and start giving hima drink. Then he’ll know he's gone.

He decides against laying down on the cool stone. If he's going to die herein the middle of this hallucination, he at least wants to see what's in thecenter before he goes. He keeps crawling.

It's the third time that he hears the voice before he realizes what he'shearing. He would swear that someone just said, "Greetings, traveler. You donot look well. Do you hear me?"

He stops crawling. He tries to look up from where he is on his hands andknees, but it's too much effort to lift his head. So he tries somethingdifferent – he leans back and tries to sit up on the stone. After a fewseconds, he catches his balance, avoids falling on his face, sits up, andtries to focus his eyes. Blurry. He rubs his eyes with the back of his handsand tries again. Better this time.

Yep. He can see. He's sitting in the middle of a large, flat, dark expanseof stone. Directly next to him, about three feet away, is a white post orpole about two inches in diameter and sticking up about four or five feetout of the stone, at an angle.

And wrapped around this white rod, tail with rattle on it hovering andseeming to be ready to start rattling, is what must be a fifteen foot longdesert diamondback rattlesnake, looking directly at him.

He stares at the snake in shock. He doesn't have the energy to get up andrun away. He doesn't even have the energy to crawl away. This is it, hisfinal resting place. No matter what happens, he's not going to be able tomove from this spot.

Well, at least dying of a bite from this monster should be quicker thandying of thirst. He’ll face his end like a man. He struggles to sit up alittle straighter. The snake keeps watching him. He lifts one hand and wavesit in the snake's direction, feebly. The snake watches the hand for amoment, then goes back to watching the man, looking into his eyes.

Hmmm. Maybe the snake had no interest in biting him? It hadn't rattled yet –that was a good sign. Maybe he wasn't going to die of snake bite after all.

He then remembers that he’d looked up when he’d reached the center herebecause he thought he’d heard a voice. He was still very woozy – he waslikely to pass out soon, the sun still beat down on him even though he wasnow on cool stone. He still didn't have anything to drink. But maybe he hadactually heard a voice. This stone didn't look natural. Nor did that whitepost sticking up out of the stone. Someone had to have built this. Maybethey were still nearby. Maybe that was who talked to him. Maybe this snakewas even their pet, and that's why it wasn't biting.

He tries to clear his throat to say, "Hello," but his throat is too dry. Allthat comes out is a coughing or wheezing sound. There is no way he's goingto be able to talk without something to drink. He feels his pocket, and thebottle with the wiper fluid is still there. He shakily pulls the bottle out,almost losing his balance and falling on his back in the process. This isn'tgood. He doesn't have much time left, by his reckoning, before he passesout.

He gets the lid off of the bottle, manages to get the bottle to his lips,and pours some of the fluid into his mouth. He sloshes it around, and thenswallows it. He coughs a little. His throat feels better. Maybe he can talknow.

He tries again. Ignoring the snake, he turns to look around him, hoping tospot the owner of this place, and croaks out, "Hello? Is there anyone here?"

He hears, from his side, "Greetings. What is it that you want?"

He turns his head, back towards the snake. That's where the sound had seemedto come from. The only thing he can think of is that there must be aspeaker, hidden under the snake, or maybe built into that post. He decidesto try asking for help.

"Please," he croaks again, suddenly feeling dizzy, "I’d love to not bethirsty any more. I’ve been a long time without water. Can you help me?"

Looking in the direction of the snake, hoping to see where the voice wascoming from this time, he is shocked to see the snake rear back, open itsmouth, and speak. He hears it say, as the dizziness overtakes him and hefalls forward, face first on the stone, "Very well. Coming up."

A piercing pain shoots through his shoulder. Suddenly he is awake. He sitsup and grabs his shoulder, wincing at the throbbing pain. He's momentarilydisoriented as he looks around, and then he remembers – the crawl across thesand, the dark area of stone, the snake. He sees the snake, still wrappedaround the tilted white post, still looking at him.

He reaches up and feels his shoulder, where it hurts. It feels slightly wet.He pulls his fingers away and looks at them – blood. He feels his shoulderagain – his shirt has what feels like two holes in it – two puncture holes –they match up with the two aching spots of pain on his shoulder. He had beenbitten. By the snake.

"It’ll feel better in a minute." He looks up – it's the snake talking. Hehadn't dreamed it. Suddenly he notices – he's not dizzy any more. And moreimportantly, he's not thirsty any more – at all!

"Have I died? Is this the afterlife? Why are you biting me in theafterlife?"

"Sorry about that, but I had to bite you," says the snake. "That's the way Iwork. It all comes through the bite. Think of it as natural medicine."

"You bit me to help me? Why aren't I thirsty any more? Did you give me adrink before you bit me? How did I drink enough while unconscious to not bethirsty any more? I haven't had a drink for over two days. Well, except forthe windshield wiper fluid… hold it, how in the world does a snake talk?Are you real? Are you some sort of Disney animation?"

"No," says the snake, "I’m real. As real as you or anyone is, anyway. Ididn't give you a drink. I bit you. That's how it works – it's what I do. Ibite. I don't have hands to give you a drink, even if I had water justsitting around here."

The man sat stunned for a minute. Here he was, sitting in the middle of thedesert on some strange stone that should be hot but wasn't, talking to asnake that could talk back and had just bitten him. And he felt better. Notgreat – he was still starving and exhausted, but much better – he was nolonger thirsty. He had started to sweat again, but only slightly. He felthot, in this sun, but it was starting to get lower in the sky, and the coolstone beneath him was a relief he could notice now that he was no longerdying of thirst.

"I might suggest that we take care of that methanol you now have in yoursystem with the next request," continued the snake. "I can guess why youdrank it, but I’m not sure how much you drank, or how much methanol was leftin the wiper fluid. That stuff is nasty. It’ll make you go blind in a day ortwo, if you drank enough of it."

"Ummm, n-next request?" said the man. He put his hand back on his hurtingshoulder and backed away from the snake a little.

"That's the way it works. If you like, that is," explained the snake. "Youget three requests. Call them wishes, if you wish." The snake grinned at hisown joke, and the man drew back a little further from the show of fangs.

"But there are rules," the snake continued. "The first request is free. Thesecond requires an agreement of secrecy. The third requires the binding ofresponsibility." The snake looks at the man seriously.

"By the way," the snake says suddenly, "my name is Nathan. Old Nathan,Samuel used to call me. He gave me the name. Before that, most of the Boundused to just call me ‘Snake’. But that got old, and Samuel wouldn't standfor it. He said that anything that could talk needed a name. He was big intonames. You can call me Nate, if you wish." Again, the snake grinned. "Sorryif I don't offer to shake, but I think you can understand – my shake soundssomewhat threatening." The snake give his rattle a little shake.

"Umm, my name is Jack," said the man, trying to absorb all of this. "JackSamson.

"Can I ask you a question?" Jack says suddenly. "What happened to thepoison…umm, in your bite. Why aren't I dying now? How did you do that?What do you mean by that's how you work?"

"That's more than one question," grins Nate. "But I’ll still try to answerall of them. First, yes, you can ask me a question." The snake's grin getswider. "Second, the poison is in you. It changed you. You now no longer needto drink. That's what you asked for. Or, well, technically, you asked to notbe thirsty any more – but ‘any more’ is such a vague term. I decided to makeit permanent – now, as long as you live, you shouldn't need to drink much atall. Your body will conserve water very efficiently. You should be able toget enough just from the food you eat – much like a creature of the desert.You’ve been changed.

"For the third question," Nate continues, "you are still dying. Besides theeffects of that methanol in your system, you’re a man – and men are mortal.In your current state, I give you no more than about another 50 years.Assuming you get out of this desert, alive, that is." Nate seemed vastlyamused at his own humor, and continued his wide grin.

"As for the fourth question," Nate said, looking more serious as far as Jackcould tell, as Jack was just now working on his ability to readtalking-snake emotions from snake facial features, "first you have to agreeto make a second request and become bound by the secrecy, or I can't tellyou."

"Wait," joked Jack, "isn't this where you say you could tell me, but you’dhave to kill me?"

"I thought that was implied." Nate continued to look serious.

"Ummm…yeah." Jack leaned back a little as he remembered again that he wastalking to a fifteen foot poisonous reptile with a reputation for having anasty temper. "So, what is this ‘Bound by Secrecy’ stuff, and can you reallystop the effects of the methanol?" Jack thought for a second. "And, what doyou mean methanol, anyway? I thought these days they use ethanol in wiperfluid, and just denature it?"

"They may, I don't really know," said Nate. "I haven't gotten out in awhile. Maybe they do. All I know is that I smell methanol on your breath andon that bottle in your pocket. And the blue color of the liquid when youpulled it out to drink some let me guess that it was wiper fluid. I assumethat they still color wiper fluid blue?"

"Yeah, they do," said Jack.

"I figured," replied Nate. "As for being bound by secrecy – with thefulfillment of your next request, you will be bound to say nothing about me,this place, or any of the information I will tell you after that, when youdecide to go back out to your kind. You won't be allowed to talk about me,write about me, use sign language, charades, or even act in a way that willlead someone to guess correctly about me. You’ll be bound to secrecy. Ofcourse, I’ll also ask you to promise not to give me away, and as I’mguessing that you’re a man of your word, you’ll never test the bindinganyway, so you won't notice." Nate said the last part with utter confidence.

Jack, who had always prided himself on being a man of his word, felt alittle nervous at this. "Ummm, hey, Nate, who are you? How did you knowthat? Are you, umm, omniscient, or something?"

Well, Jack," said Nate sadly, "I can't tell you that, unless you make thesecond request." Nate looked away for a minute, then looked back.

"Umm, well, ok," said Jack, "what is this about a second request? What can Iask for? Are you allowed to tell me that?"

"Sure!" said Nate, brightening. "You’re allowed to ask for changes. Changesto yourself. They’re like wishes, but they can only affect you. Oh, andbefore you ask, I can't give you immortality. Or omniscience. Oromnipresence, for that matter. Though I might be able to make you gaseousand yet remain alive, and then you could spread through the atmosphere andsort of be omnipresent. But what good would that be – you still wouldn't beomniscient and thus still could only focus on one thing at a time. Not veryuseful, at least in my opinion." Nate stopped when he realized that Jack wasstaring at him.

"Well, anyway," continued Nate, "I’d probably suggest giving you permanentgood health. It would negate the methanol now in your system, you’d beimmune to most poisons and diseases, and you’d tend to live a very longtime, barring accident, of course. And you’ll even have a tendency torecover from accidents well. It always seemed like a good choice for arequest to me."

"Cure the methanol poisoning, huh?" said Jack. "And keep me healthy for along time? Hmmm. It doesn't sound bad at that. And it has to be a requestabout a change to me? I can't ask to be rich, right? Because that's notreally a change to me?"

"Right," nodded Nate.

"Could I ask to be a genius and permanently healthy?" Jack asked, hopefully.

"That takes two requests, Jack."

"Yeah, I figured so," said Jack. "But I could ask to be a genius? I couldbecome the smartest scientist in the world? Or the best athlete?"

"Well, I could make you very smart," admitted Nate, "but that wouldn'tnecessarily make you the best scientist in the world. Or, I could make youvery athletic, but it wouldn't necessarily make you the best athlete either.You’ve heard the saying that 99% of genius is hard work? Well, there's sometruth to that. I can give you the talent, but I can't make you work hard. Itall depends on what you decide to do with it."

"Hmmm," said Jack. "Ok, I think I understand. And I get a third request,after this one?"

"Maybe," said Nate, "it depends on what you decide then. There are morerules for the third request that I can only tell you about after the secondrequest. You know how it goes." Nate looked like he’d shrug, if he hadshoulders.

"Ok, well, since I’d rather not be blind in a day or two, and permanenthealth doesn't sound bad, then consider that my second request. Officially.Do I need to sign in blood or something?"

"No," said Nate. "Just hold out your hand. Or heel." Nate grinned. "Orwhatever part you want me to bite. I have to bite you again. Like I said,that's how it works – the poison, you know," Nate said apologetically.

Jack winced a little and felt his shoulder, where the last bite was. Hey, itdidn't hurt any more. Just like Nate had said. That made Jack feel betterabout the biting business. But still, standing still while a fifteen footsnake sunk it's fangs into you. Jack stood up. Ignoring how good it felt tobe able to stand again, and the hunger starting to gnaw at his stomach, Jacktried to decide where he wanted to get bitten. Despite knowing that itwouldn't hurt for long, Jack knew that this wasn't going to be easy.

"Hey, Jack," Nate suddenly said, looking past Jack towards the dunes behindhim, "is that someone else coming up over there?"

Jack spun around and looked. Who else could be out here in the middle ofnowhere? And did they bring food?

Wait a minute, there was nobody over there. What was Nate…

Jack let out a bellow as he felt two fangs sink into his rear end, throughhis jeans…

Jack sat down carefully, favoring his more tender buttock. "I would havedecided, eventually, Nate. I was just thinking about it. You didn't have tohoodwink me like that."

"I’ve been doing this a long time, Jack," said Nate, confidently. "Youhumans have a hard time sitting still and letting a snake bite you –especially one my size. And besides, admit it – it's only been a couple ofminutes and it already doesn't hurt any more, does it? That's because of thehealth benefit with this one. I told you that you’d heal quickly now."

"Yeah, well, still," said Jack, "it's the principle of the thing. And nobodylikes being bitten in the butt! Couldn't you have gotten my calf orsomething instead?"

"More meat in the typical human butt," replied Nate. "And less chance youaccidentally kick me or move at the last second."

"Yeah, right. So, tell me all of these wonderful secrets that I now qualifyto hear," answered Jack.

"Ok," said Nate. "Do you want to ask questions first, or do you want me tojust start talking?"

"Just talk," said Jack. "I’ll sit here and try to not think about food."

"We could go try to rustle up some food for you first, if you like,"answered Nate.

"Hey! You didn't tell me you had food around here, Nate!" Jack jumped up."What do we have? Am I in walking distance to town? Or can you magicallywhip up food along with your other powers?" Jack was almost shouting withexcitement. His stomach had been growling for hours.

"I was thinking more like I could flush something out of its hole and biteit for you, and you could skin it and eat it. Assuming you have a knife,that is," replied Nate, with the grin that Jack was starting to get used to.

"Ugh," said Jack, sitting back down. "I think I’ll pass. I can last a littlelonger before I get desperate enough to eat desert rat, or whatever else itis you find out here. And there's nothing to burn – I’d have to eat it raw.No thanks. Just talk."

"Ok," replied Nate, still grinning. "But I’d better hurry, before you startlooking at me as food.

Nate reared back a little, looked around for a second, and then continued."You, Jack, are sitting in the middle of the Garden of Eden."

Jack looked around at the sand and dunes and then looked back at Natesceptically.

"Well, that's the best I can figure it, anyway, Jack," said Nate. "Stand upand look at the symbol on the rock here." Nate gestured around the darkstone they were both sitting on with his nose.

Jack stood up and looked. Carved into the stone in a bas-relief was arepresentation of a large tree. The angled-pole that Nate was wrapped aroundwas coming out of the trunk of the tree, right below where the main branchesleft the truck to reach out across the stone. It was very well done – itlooked more like a tree had been reduced to almost two dimensions andembedded in the stone than it did like a carving.

Jack walked around and looked at the details in the fading light of thesetting sun. He wished he’d looked at it while the sun was higher in thesky.

Wait! The sun was setting! That meant he was going to have to spend anothernight out here! Arrrgh!

Jack looked out across the desert for a little bit, and then came back andstood next to Nate. "In all the excitement, I almost forgot, Nate," saidJack. "Which way is it back to town? And how far? I’m eventually going tohave to head back – I’m not sure I’ll be able to survive by eating rawdesert critters for long. And even if I can, I’m not sure I’ll want to."

"It's about 30 miles that way." Nate pointed, with the rattle on his tailthis time. As far as Jack could tell, it was a direction at right angles tothe way he’d been going when he was crawling here. "But that's 30 miles bythe way the crow flies. It's about 40 by the way a man walks. You should beable to do it in about half a day with your improved endurance, if you headout early tomorrow, Jack."

Jack looked out the way the snake had pointed for a few seconds more, andthen sat back down. It was getting dark. Not much he could do about headingout right now. And besides, Nate was just about to get to the interestingstuff. "Garden of Eden? As best as you can figure it?"

"Well, yeah, as best as I and Samuel could figure it anyway," said Nate. "Hefigured that the story just got a little mixed up. You know, snake, in a‘tree’, offering ‘temptations’, making bargains. That kind stuff. But hecould never quite figure out how the Hebrews found out about this spot fromacross the ocean. He worried about that for a while."

"Garden of Eden, hunh?" said Jack. "How long have you been here, Nate?"

"No idea, really," replied Nate. "A long time. It never occurred to me tocount years, until recently, and by then, of course, it was too late. But Ido remember when this whole place was green, so I figure it's been thousandsof years, at least."

"So, are you the snake that tempted Eve?" said Jack.

"Beats me," said Nate. "Maybe. I can't remember if the first one of yourkind that I talked to was female or not, and I never got a name, but itcould have been. And I suppose she could have considered my offer to grantrequests a ‘temptation’, though I’ve rarely had refusals."

"Well, umm, how did you get here then? And why is that white pole stuck outof the stone there?" asked Jack.

"Dad left me here. Or, I assume it was my dad. It was another snake – muchbigger than I was back then. I remember talking to him, but I don't rememberif it was in a language, or just kind of understanding what he wanted. Butone day, he brought me to this stone, told me about it, and asked me to dosomething for him. I talked it over with him for a while, then agreed. I’vebeen here ever since.

"What is this place?" said Jack. "And what did he ask you to do?"

"Well, you see this pole here, sticking out of the stone?" Nate loosened hiscoils around the tilted white pole and showed Jack where it descended intothe stone. The pole was tilted at about a 45 degree angle and seemed toenter the stone in an eighteen inch slot cut into the stone. Jack leanedover and looked. The slot was dark and the pole went down into it as far asJack could see in the dim light. Jack reached out to touch the pole, butNate was suddenly there in the way.

"You can't touch that yet, Jack," said Nate.

"Why not?" asked Jack.

"I haven't explained it to you yet," replied Nate.

"Well, it kinda looks like a lever or something," said Jack. "You’d push itthat way, and it would move in the slot."

"Yep, that's what it is," replied Nate.

"What does it do?" asked Jack. "End the world?"

"Oh, no," said Nate. "Nothing that drastic. It just ends humanity. I call it‘The Lever of Doom’." For the last few words Nate had used a deeper, ringingvoice. He tried to look serious for a few seconds, and then gave up andgrinned.

Jack was initially startled by Nate's pronouncement, but when Nate grinnedJack laughed. "Ha! You almost had me fooled for a second there. What does itreally do?"

"Oh, it really ends humanity, like I said," smirked Nate. "I just thoughtthe voice I used was funny, didn't you?"

Nate continued to grin.

"A lever to end humanity?" asked Jack. "What in the world is that for? Whywould anyone need to end humanity?"

"Well," replied Nate, "I get the idea that maybe humanity was an experiment.Or maybe the Big Guy just thought, that if humanity started going reallybad, there should be a way to end it. I’m not really sure. All I know arethe rules, and the guesses that Samuel and I had about why it's here. Ididn't think to ask back when I started here."

"Rules? What rules?" asked Jack.

"The rules are that I can't tell anybody about it or let them touch itunless they agree to be bound to secrecy by a bite. And that only one humancan be bound in that way at a time. That's it." explained Nate.

Jack looked somewhat shocked. "You mean that I could pull the lever now?You’d let me end humanity?"

"Yep," replied Nate, "if you want to." Nate looked at Jack carefully. "Doyou want to, Jack?"

"Umm, no." said Jack, stepping a little further back from the lever. "Why inthe world would anyone want to end humanity? It’d take a psychotic to wantthat! Or worse, a suicidal psychotic, because it would kill him too,wouldn't it?"

"Yep," replied Nate, "being as he’d be human too."

"Has anyone ever seriously considered it?" asked Nate. "Any of those boundto secrecy, that is?"

"Well, of course, I think they’ve all seriously considered it at one time oranother. Being given that kind of responsibility makes you sit down andthink, or so I’m told. Samuel considered it several times. He’d often getdisgusted with humanity, come out here, and just hold the lever for a while.But he never pulled it. Or you wouldn't be here." Nate grinned some more.

Jack sat down, well back from the lever. He looked thoughtful and puzzled atthe same time. After a bit, he said, "So this makes me the Judge ofhumanity? I get to decide whether they keep going or just end? Me?"

"That seems to be it," agreed Nate.

"What kind of criteria do I use to decide?" said Jack. "How do I make thisdecision? Am I supposed to decide if they’re good? Or too many of them arebad? Or that they’re going the wrong way? Is there a set of rules for that?"

"Nope," replied Nate. "You pretty much just have to decide on your own. It'sup to you, however you want to decide it. I guess that you’re just supposedto know."

"But what if I get mad at someone? Or some girl dumps me and I feelhorrible? Couldn't I make a mistake? How do I know that I won't screw up?"protested Jack.

Nate gave his kind of snake-like shrug again. "You don't. You just have totry your best, Jack."

Jack sat there for a while, staring off into the desert that was rapidlygetting dark, chewing on a fingernail.

Suddenly, Jack turned around and looked at the snake. "Nate, was Samuel theone bound to this before me?"

"Yep," replied Nate. "He was a good guy. Talked to me a lot. Taught me toread and brought me books. I think I still have a good pile of them buriedin the sand around here somewhere. I still miss him. He died a few monthsago."

"Sounds like a good guy," agreed Jack. "How did he handle this, when youfirst told him. What did he do?"

"Well," said Nate, "he sat down for a while, thought about it for a bit, andthen asked me some questions, much like you’re doing."

"What did he ask you, if you’re allowed to tell me?" asked Jack.

"He asked me about the third request," replied Nate.

"Aha!" It was Jack's turn to grin. "And what did you tell him?"

"I told him the rules for the third request. That to get the third requestyou have to agree to this whole thing. That if it ever comes to the pointthat you really think that humanity should be ended, that you’ll come hereand end it. You won't avoid it, and you won't wimp out." Nate looked seriousagain. "And you’ll be bound to do it too, Jack."

"Hmmm." Jack looked back out into the darkness for a while.

Nate watched him, waiting.

"Nate," continued Jack, quietly, eventually. "What did Samuel ask for withhis third request?"

Nate sounded like he was grinning again as he replied, also quietly,"Wisdom, Jack. He asked for wisdom. As much as I could give him."

"Ok," said Jack, suddenly, standing up and facing away from Nate, "give itto me.

Nate looked at Jack's backside. "Give you what, Jack?"

"Give me that wisdom. The same stuff that Samuel asked for. If it helpedhim, maybe it’ll help me too." Jack turned his head to look back over hisshoulder at Nate. "It did help him, right?"

"He said it did," replied Nate. "But he seemed a little quieter afterward.Like he had a lot to think about."

"Well, yeah, I can see that," said Jack. "So, give it to me." Jack turned toface away from Nate again, bent over slightly and tensed up.

Nate watched Jack tense up with a little exasperation. If he bit Jack now,Jack would likely jump out of his skin and maybe hurt them both.

"You remember that you’ll be bound to destroy humanity if it ever looks likeit needs it, right Jack?" asked Nate, shifting position.

"Yeah, yeah, I got that," replied Jack, eyes squeezed tightly shut and bodytense, not noticing the change in direction of Nate's voice.

"And," continued Nate, from his new position, "do you remember that you’llturn bright purple, and grow big horns and extra eyes?"

"Yeah, yeah…Hey, wait a minute!" said Jack, opening his eyes,straightening up and turning around. "Purple?!" He didn't see Nate there.With the moonlight Jack could see that the lever extended up from its slotin the rock without the snake wrapped around it.

Jack heard, from behind him, Nate's "Just Kidding!" right before he felt thenow familiar piercing pain, this time in the other buttock.

Jack sat on the edge of the dark stone in the rapidly cooling air, his feetextending out into the sand. He stared out into the darkness, listening tothe wind stir the sand, occasionally rubbing his butt where he’d beenrecently bitten.

Nate had left for a little while, had come back with a desert-rodent-shapedbulge somewhere in his middle, and was now wrapped back around the lever,his tongue flicking out into the desert night's air the only sign that hewas still awake.

Occasionally Jack, with his toes absentmindedly digging in the sand while hethought, would ask Nate a question without turning around.

"Nate, do accidents count?"

Nate lifted his head a little bit. "What do you mean, Jack?"

Jack tilted his head back like he was looking at the stars. "You know,accidents. If I accidentally fall on the lever, without meaning to, doesthat still wipe out humanity?"

"Yeah, I’m pretty sure it does, Jack. I’d suggest you be careful about thatif you start feeling wobbly," said Nate with some amusement.

A little later – "Does it have to be me that pulls the lever?" asked Jack.

"That's the rule, Jack. Nobody else can pull it," answered Nate.

"No," Jack shook his head, "I meant does it have to be my hand? Could I pullthe lever with a rope tied around it? Or push it with a stick? Or throw arock?"

"Yes, those should work," replied Nate. "Though I’m not sure how complicatedyou could get. Samuel thought about trying to build some kind of remotecontrol for it once, but gave it up. Everything he’d build would be gone bythe next sunrise, if it was touching the stone, or over it. I told him thatin the past others that had been bound had tried to bury the lever so theywouldn't be tempted to pull it, but every time the stones or sand orwhatever had disappeared."

"Wow," said Jack, "Cool." Jack leaned back until only his elbows kept himoff of the stone and looked up into the sky.

"Nate, how long did Samuel live? One of his wishes was for health too,right?" asked Jack.

"Yes," replied Nate, "it was. He lived 167 years, Jack."

"Wow, 167 years. That's almost 140 more years I’ll live if I live as long.Do you know what he died of, Nate?"

"He died of getting tired of living, Jack," Nate said, sounding somewhatsad.

Jack turned his head to look at Nate in the starlight.

Nate looked back. "Samuel knew he wasn't going to be able to stay insociety. He figured that they’d eventually see him still alive and startquestioning it, so he decided that he’d have to disappear after a while. Hefaked his death once, but changed his mind – he decided it was too early andhe could stay for a little longer. He wasn't very fond of mankind, but heliked the attention. Most of the time, anyway.

"His daughter and then his wife dying almost did him in though. He didn'tstay in society much longer after that. He eventually came out here to spendtime talking to me and thinking about pulling the lever. A few months ago hetold me he’d had enough. It was his time."

"And then he just died?" asked Jack.

Nate shook his head a little. "He made his forth request, Jack. There's onlyone thing you can ask for the fourth request. The last bite.

After a bit Nate continued, "He told me that he was tired, that it was histime. He reassured me that someone new would show up soon, like they alwayshad.

After another pause, Nate finished, "Samuel's body disappeared off the stonewith the sunrise."

Jack lay back down and looked at the sky, leaving Nate alone with hismemories. It was a long time until Jack's breathing evened out into sleep.

Jack woke with the sunrise the next morning. He was a little chilled withthe morning desert air, but overall was feeling pretty good. Well, exceptthat his stomach was grumbling and he wasn't willing to eat raw desert rat.

So, after getting directions to town from Nate, making sure he knew how toget back, and reassuring Nate that he’d be back soon, Jack started the longwalk back to town. With his new health and Nate's good directions, he madeit back easily.

Jack caught a bus back to the city, and showed up for work the next day,little worse for the wear and with a story about getting lost in the desertand walking back out. Within a couple of days Jack had talked a friend witha tow truck into going back out into the desert with him to fetch the SUV.They found it after a couple of hours of searching and towed it back withoutincident. Jack was careful not to even look in the direction of Nate'slever, though their path back didn't come within sight of it.

Before the next weekend, Jack had gone to a couple of stores, including abook store, and had gotten his SUV back from the mechanic, with a warning toavoid any more joyriding in the desert. On Saturday, Jack headed back to seeNate.

Jack parked a little way out of the small town near Nate, loaded up his newbackpack with camping gear and the things he was bringing for Nate, and thenstarted walking. He figured that walking would leave the least trail, and heknew that while not many people camped in the desert, it wasn't unheard of,and shouldn't really raise suspicions.

Jack had brought more books for Nate – recent books, magazines, newspapers.Some things that would catch Nate up with what was happening in the world,others that were just good books to read. He spent the weekend with Nate,and then headed out again, telling Nate that he’d be back again soon, butthat he had things to do first.

Over four months later Jack was back to see Nate again. This time he broughta laptop with him – a specially modified laptop. It had a solar recharger,special filters and seals to keep out the sand, a satellite link-up, and aspecial keyboard and joystick that Jack hoped that a fifteen-footrattlesnake would be able to use. And, it had been hacked to not give outits location to the satellite.

After that Jack could e-mail Nate to keep in touch, but still visited himfairly regularly – at least once or twice a year.

After the first year, Jack quit his job. For some reason, with the wisdom he‘d been given, and the knowledge that he could live for over 150 years,working in a nine to five job for someone else didn't seem that worthwhileany more. Jack went back to school.

Eventually, Jack started writing. Perhaps because of the wisdom, or perhapsbecause of his new perspective, he wrote well. People liked what he wrote,and he became well known for it. After a time, Jack bought an RV and startedtraveling around the country for book signings and readings.

But, he still remembered to drop by and visit Nate occasionally.

On one of the visits Nate seemed quieter than usual. Not that Nate had beena fountain of joy lately. Jack's best guess was that Nate was still missingSamuel, and though Jack had tried, he still hadn't been able to replaceSamuel in Nate's eyes. Nate had been getting quieter each visit. But on thisvisit Nate didn't even speak when Jack walked up to the lever. He nodded atJack, and then went back to staring into the desert. Jack, respecting Nate'ssilence, sat down and waited.

After a few minutes, Nate spoke. "Jack, I have someone to introduce you to."

Jack looked surprised. "Someone to introduce me to?" Jack looked around, and then looked carefully back at Nate. "This something to do with the Big Guy?

"No, no," replied Nate. "This is more personal. I want you to meet my son."Nate looked over at the nearest sand dune. "Sammy!"

Jack watched as a four foot long desert rattlesnake crawled from behind thedune and up to the stone base of the lever.

"Yo, Jack," said the new, much smaller snake.

"Yo, Sammy" replied Jack. Jack looked at Nate. "Named after Samuel, Iassume?"

Nate nodded. "Jack, I’ve got a favor to ask you. Could you show Sammy aroundfor me?" Nate unwrapped himself from the lever and slithered over to theedge of the stone and looked across the sands. "When Samuel first told meabout the world, and brought me books and pictures, I wished that I could go see it. I wanted to see the great forests, the canyons, the cities, even theother deserts, to see if they felt and smelled the same. I want my son tohave that chance – to see the world. Before he becomes bound here like I have been.

"He's seen it in pictures, over the computer that you brought me. But I hear that it's not the same. That being there is different. I want him to havethat. Think you can do that for me, Jack?"

Jack nodded. This was obviously very important to Nate, so Jack didn't evenjoke about taking a talking rattlesnake out to see the world. "Yeah, I cando that for you, Nate. Is that all you need?" Jack could sense that wassomething more.

Nate looked at Sammy. Sammy looked back at Nate for a second and then said,"Oh, yeah. Ummm, I’ve gotta go pack. Back in a little bit Jack. Nice to meetya!" Sammy slithered back over the dune and out of sight.

Nate watched Sammy disappear and then looked back at Jack. "Jack, this is myfirst son. My first offspring through all the years. You don't even want toknow what it took for me to find a mate." Nate grinned to himself. "Butanyway, I had a son for a reason. I’m tired. I’m ready for it to be over. Ineeded a replacement."

Jack considered this for a minute. "So, you’re ready to come see the world,and you wanted him to watch the lever while you were gone?"

Nate shook his head. "No, Jack – you’re a better guesser than that. You’vealready figured out – I’m bound here – there's only one way for me to leavehere. And I’m ready. It's my time to die."

Jack looked more closely at Nate. He could tell Nate had thought aboutthis – probably for quite a while. Jack had trouble imagining what it wouldbe like to be as old as Nate, but Jack could already tell that in anotherhundred or two hundred years, he might be getting tired of life himself.Jack could understand Samuel's decision, and now Nate's. So, all Jack saidwas, "What do you want me to do?"

Nate nodded. "Thanks, Jack. I only want two things. One – show Sammy aroundthe world – let him get his fill of it, until he's ready to come back hereand take over. Two – give me the fourth request.

"I can't just decide to die, not any more than you can. I won't even die ofold age like you eventually will, even though it’ll be a long time from now.I need to be killed. Once Sammy is back here, ready to take over, I’ll beable to die. And I need you to kill me.

"I’ve even thought about how. Poisons and other drugs won't work on me. AndI’ve seen pictures of snakes that were shot – some of them live for days, sothat's out too. So, I want you to bring back a sword.

Nate turned away to look back to the dune that Sammy had gone behind. "I’dsay an axe, but that's somewhat undignified – putting my head on the groundor a chopping block like that. No, I like a sword. A time-honored way ofgoing out. A dignified way to die. And, most importantly, it should work,even on me.

"You willing to do that for me, Jack?" Nate turned back to look at Jack.

"Yeah, Nate," replied Jack solemnly, "I think I can handle that."

Nate nodded. "Good!" He turned back toward the dune and shouted, "Sammy!Jack's about ready to leave!" Then quietly, "Thanks, Jack."

Jack didn't have anything to say to that, so he waited for Sammy to make itback to the lever, nodded to him, nodded a final time to Nate, and thenheaded into the desert with Sammy following.Over the next several years Sammy and Jack kept in touch with Nate throughe-mail as they went about their adventures. They made a goal of visitingevery country in the world, and did a respectable job of it. Sammy had anatural gift for languages, as Jack expected he would, and even ended upacting as a translator for Jack in a few of the countries. Jack managed tokeep the talking rattlesnake hidden, even so, and by the time they werenearing the end of their tour of countries, Sammy had only been spotted afew times. While there were several people that had seen enough to startlethem greatly, nobody had enough evidence to prove anything, and while a fewwild rumors and storied followed Jack and Sammy around, nothing ever hit thenewspapers or the public in general.

When they finished the tour of countries, Jack suggested that they try someundersea diving. They did. And spelunking. They did that too. Sammy finallydrew the line at visiting Antarctica. He’d come to realize that Jack wasstalling. After talking to his Dad about it over e-mail, he figured out thatJack probably didn't want to have to kill Nate. Nate told Sammy that humanscould be squeamish about killing friends and acquaintances.

So, Sammy eventually put his tail down (as he didn't have a foot) and toldJack that it was time – he was ready to go back and take up his duties fromhis dad. Jack, delayed it a little more by insisting that they go back toJapan and buy an appropriate sword. He even stretched it a little more bygetting lessons in how to use the sword. But, eventually, he’d learned asmuch as he was likely to without dedicating his life to it, and wasdefinitely competent enough to take the head off of a snake. It was time tohead back and see Nate.

When they got back to the US, Jack got the old RV out of storage where heand Sammy had left it after their tour of the fifty states, he loaded upSammy and the sword, and they headed for the desert.

When they got to the small town that Jack had been trying to find thoseyears ago when he’d met Nate, Jack was in a funk. He didn't really feel likewalking all of the way out there. Not only that, but he’d forgotten tofigure the travel time correctly, and it was late afternoon. They’d eitherhave to spend the night in town and walk out tomorrow, or walk in the dark.

As Jack was afraid that if he waited one more night he might lose hisresolve, he decided that he’d go ahead and drive the RV out there. It wasonly going to be this once, and Jack would go back and cover the tracksafterward. They ought to be able to make it out there by nightfall if theydrove, and then they could get it over tonight.

Jack told Sammy to e-mail Nate that they were coming as he drove out ofsight of the town on the road. They then pulled off the road and headed outinto the desert.

Everything went well, until they got to the sand dunes. Jack had beennursing the RV along the whole time, over the rocks, through the creek beds,revving the engine the few times they almost got stuck. When they came tothe dunes, Jack didn't really think about it, he just downshifted and headedup the first one. By the third dune, Jack started to regret that he’ddecided to try driving on the sand. The RV was fishtailling and losingtraction. Jack was having to work it up each dune slowly and was trying tokeep from losing control each time they came over the top and slid down theother side. Sammy had come up to sit in the passenger seat, coiled up andlaughing at Jack's driving.

As they came over the top of the fourth dune, the biggest one yet, Jack sawthat this was the final dune – the stone, the lever, and somewhere Nate,waited below. Jack put on the brakes, but he’d gone a little too far. The RVstarted slipping down the other side.

Jack tried turning the wheel, but he didn't have enough traction. He pumpedthe brakes – no response. They started sliding down the hill, faster andfaster.

Jack felt a shock go through him as he suddenly realized that they wereheading for the lever. He looked down – the RV was directly on course forit. If Jack didn't do something, the RV would hit it. He was about to endhumanity.

Jack steered more frantically, trying to get traction. It still wasn'tworking. The dune was too steep, and the sand too loose. In a split second,Jack realized that his only chance would be once he hit the stone around thelever – he should have traction on the stone for just a second before he hitthe lever – he wouldn't have time to stop, but he should be able to steeraway.

Jack took a better grip on the steering wheel and tried to turn the RV alittle bit – every little bit would help. He’d have to time his turn justright.

The RV got to the bottom of the dune, sliding at an amazing speed in thesand. Just before they reached the stone Jack looked across it to check thatthey were still heading for the lever. They were. But Jack noticed somethingelse that he hadn't seen from the top of the dune. Nate wasn't wrappedaround the lever. He was off to the side of the lever, but still on thestone, waiting for them. The problem was, he was waiting on the same side ofthe lever that Jack had picked to steer towards to avoid the lever. The RVwas already starting to drift that way a little in its mad rush across thesand and there was no way that Jack was going to be able to go around thelever to the other side.

Jack had an instant of realization. He was either going to have to hit thelever, or run over Nate. He glanced over at Sammy and saw that Sammyrealized the same thing.

Jack took a firmer grip on the steering wheel as the RV ran up on the stone.Shouting to Sammy as he pulled the steering wheel, "BETTER NATE THAN LEVER," he ran over the snake.

THE END

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PLEASE READ:

This joke was also a personality profile test…

It was the subject of a recent Educational Psychology Master's Thesis, soon to be published, which investigated the way that someone responds to a webpage such as this correlates to certain personality tendencies.

The research confirmed a statistically significant correlation which strongly suggests a dependably predictive positive relationship between how a person responds to this page and certain aspects of his or her psychological profile. Thus, it is called the Personality Profile Assessment Test Hypothesis.

While the actual results looked at several complex factors, and depended heavily on questionnaires filled out by volunteers upon completion of their experience, I will simplify the results by discussing three main groups and their profiles. While these profiles may not be exactly fitting of each person within each group, they do strongly suggest a statistically significant likelihood of profile similarity.

11% of those who see this page take their time, enjoying the joke as they read it, enjoying the build up to the punch line, and even if the punch line itself wasn't particularly humorous, they tended to enjoy the process.

56% begin scroll down to the punch line either before starting to read the joke or within a short period of time- usually 20 seconds or less. The vast majority of this group choose not to read the joke.

33% read at least 1/3 of the joke, with the intention of reading it all, but then begin to question their decision and the investment of time they are making. They go back and forth between deciding to continuing or to skip to the end (this vacillating may be unconscious at the time, and happen in a matter of moments). The vast majority in this group give up before finishing ½ of the joke, and scroll to the end.

People in the first group, who read the entire joke, tend to enjoy the journey of life, and take their time as they move towards a goal. When traveling, they tend to thoroughly enjoy the process, and are not uptight or stressed about single-mindedly getting to their destination. They also tend to be very attentive, patient and long lasting lovers, and enjoy intimacy and physical connectivity whether or not it is carried to completion.

Those in the second group, who scroll to the end before reading more than a few sentences of the joke, tend to avoid surprises and the unknown. They prefer to have a regular schedule and not to step out of their routine. They tend to be efficient, but are often lacking in enjoyment, spontaneity and passion. They tend to be less patient and more interested in the destination than the journey. When on a trip, they tend to focus on getting where they are going, rather than enjoying the process. During intimacy, they tend to not be able to enjoy it unless they are certain it will be taken to completion. The idea of just "playing around" a while, engaging in physical intimacy without the promise of full completion is, rather than simply enjoyable and connective, considered to be "cruel" and a "teasing" and is met with resentment. This group's ability to enjoy depends largely on their need to know what is going to happen. They tend to be more self-focused lovers, and tend not to last very long in satisfying the other partner if their own satisfaction has happened or is within easy reach.

The third group, who decided not to read the entire joke after reading a third or more of it, tend to be commitment-phobic and lack the ability to move forward to completion when things become challenging. They are often procrastinators and frequently give up on tasks when they become more difficult. They tend to prefer to have big dreams than act on them in the real, challenging world. A significantly higher percentage of this group had Cesarean birth, and may not have had the benefit of that early experience of struggle and effort being rewarded with accomplishment. This group tends to not take big vacations which would take more effort to plan and implement, and tends to stay close to home or even stay home during time off. Promotions and career moves which are within reach but still require some effort and focus are frequently not fully tried for, although the perception will be they were passed up. In intimate relationships, this group tends to start out romantic and passionate, but it quickly fades and is replaced by lackadaisicalness and indifference, characterized in part by a sense of feeling it is not worth the effort to continue having a passionate, energized and complete experience during intimacy. There is a tendency to "peter out" both in intimacy and in other aspects of life, and to take the easier road, even if it leads to a less fulfilling life.

* * * *

Disclaimer: This summary of the thesis results is not intended in any way to offer advice or therapy, nor is it intended to infer anything about whether anyone reading this page does or does not fit the personality profiles described.

* * * *

This ends the longest joke in the world. (More than 42 meters long, top to bottom).

Thank you.

I’ve posted that one before. Now Shane downvotes me whenever I say:Better Nate than lever!

I’m reformed. I have learned that Page 6 should be inclusive, not discriminatory. Have an upvote.

One day, long in the future, when everyone knows that joke, "Better Nate than Lever" will become a cultural understanding that promotes amusement without any context. Long after people use Better Nate than Lever for years as a punchline without a joke, aliens will land and try to understand us, and then they will go away confused and leave a beacon in space broadcasting a message to all the other forms of intelligent life saying "seriously, fuck those guys".

I read the whole thing. I read the whole thing and I don't even like dad jokes…

I haven't read it, but I copied it into a word document, and I plan to read it sometime this century.

EDIT: Holy hell it's 27 pages long.

Stone Temple Pilots have cancelled their Soundwave appearance to supposedly continue working on their new album, last time a band said that turned out they had an argument with AJ the organiser and then pulled out as a result. That seems like a massive dick move to their fans. I was interested in seeing them with Chester to see what it would be like.

AJ's a cock so I wouldn't discount that train of thought. He basically thinks he's bigger than the bands and can't take criticism. Not to say he doesn't do a good job, he does, but he's developed a god complex over the years.

Also, having seen Bloodstock Festival grow from a one day festival indoors at Derby into basically the British wacken in the space of ten years, they do things so differently and seem to know what their consumets want and try to deliver that. AJ tells his consumers what they want and then shuts down anything that threatens him (No Sleep Til… for example)

That said, STP could’ve been dicks about it all too, but every year there's a couple of bands who seem to clash with AJ.

damn you virus for editing 😛

I know nothing! I originally meant to reply to myself up there about The Living End (since they replaced STP), but when I realised you replied I put it back, sorry 😛

Oh yeah he's that for sure. I never believe what is written when it comes to bands cancelling Soundwave, I always think first it's the ego's clashing of the bands with AJ's or AJ's with the bands ego's.. He's a right cunt, that is for sure, he's been one to me even heh..

Hmm fair enough on that front, though to me Soundwave is more modelled off the likes of Download, or even Sonisphere Where their idea is to get the biggest names in Rock, Metal, Punk & Alternative that are available to do a gig, rather than what people really want. But saying that I would like it if there was a bit of user input, I for one would love to see RUSH play Soundwave, it’ll never happen, but I would like that chance to be there.

Yeah, who really knows honestly. I just think it's a massive dick move to pull out of a tour because studio time is more precious, I know that shit isn't cheap. But it just seems wrong to fuck over fans like that.

bum

*tee hee*

you’ll call them homeless people and stop laughing at them

hobo

*tee hee hee*

snigger

Love the product release information for Broken Age on Steam:

Key Features:— Pointing— Clicking— Original soundtrack, composed by Peter McConnell, recorded by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra— All-star voice cast, including Elijah Wood, Jack Black, Jennifer Hale, Wil Wheaton, and Pendleton Ward— Dialog Trees!— Some jokes. Unless you don't think they’re funny, in which case we totally weren't trying to be funny.— A whole bunch of awesome PUZZLES— This one really hard puzzle that you won't get but you’ll look it up online and not tell anybody–All your hopes and dreams

http://store.steampowered.com/news/12290/

The web. Using a mouse, mices, using mice. Clicking, double clicking. The computer screen, of course. The keyboard. The… bit that goes on the floor down there.

The hard drive?

Correct.

You ever watched that first episode with the IT subtitles? Fucking brilliant

That on the DVD release? I may have acquired the show via different means.

Ahh well its worth getting the DVD for

Well okay its not really but it IS very good. I can't find anything on youtube which is a bit disappointing but there is a picture here: http://boingboing.net/2006/11/15/it-crowd-dvd-has-sub.html

Haha excellent if I come across it in a jb sale I’ll pick it up.

That was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. A friend in uni had it and we were in early or something, I was already a fan of the show and had seen it on TV but then he told me about the 1337 subtitles and put it on.

I don't think I’ve ever been in so much pain from laughter.

I got the DVD when I was doing my networking diploma at tafe, I brought it in to show one of my mates a bit of the subbed section and we ended up watching the entire thing in class laughing our arses off & people came in wondering why we were making so much noise

It was weird how funny it was, part of it was the nerdy references and part of it was the sheer fact that they did it at all

The thing that got me the most about it was how it wasn't just replacing all the Es with 3s and Ts with 7s (what I expected when it was first mentioned), but a full-blown translation of the entire script. Whoever came up with that idea is a genius.

Things.

They’re even better than stuff!

Darn tootin’!

Doctor Who joke (spoilered becaue it kinda is a 50th anniversary spoiler)Why was McCoy afraid of Mcgann?Because McGann Hurt Eccleston!

Getting things ready for the trip this weekend to Sydney, I have decided that Cathryn will be using my twitter to live tweet/fb our trip up including "random shit I say while driving" and the ever lovable "guess what that is on the side of the road"

Other than that will be in Sydney till the 14th so Sydney peeps put me in the loop!

"guess what that is on the side of the road"I’m in with an early guess for dead ‘roo

Go to Burnie, in the middle of nowhere on a farm, have NBN. Back home, in the middle of the city, no internet at all :/ Not fair! This place is insanely peaceful though, it's great. Feels a bit weird though cos it's kinda like I’ve been adopted by Oliver's family… Hugs and kisses by his extended family, everyone's treating me like I’ve known them all my life, his mum referring to us as brothers and giving me shirts as Christmas presents, looking through baby photos. Omg it's weird but it's really nice to feel so welcome here.

We’re stopping by my place on the way home on the weekend which could be interesting. Kinda don't wanna do that.

It's clearly a trap!

Middle of nowhere, everything peaceful, people acting like they don't want you to leave… My bet is that they’re cannibals. You’ll be Sunday roast, Monday leftovers and Tuesday soup!

RUN!

Sometimes it's weird to meet people who were clearly raised differently than you and treat people more warmly and all that. Strange, but awesome!

Finished Broken Age part 1.

Only bit that tripped me up:

For the life of me, I have no idea why I didn't try to give the MC guy the bucket of sap. Had to look it up!

Haha! Yeah, I knew what to do with that, but tried to do it myself. Pouring the bucket into the water, etc. Only after I tried every thing else I just handed the guy the bucket!

I hope part two has a smidgen more difficulty

Agreed! Was nice to experience the sights and sounds, though.

Looks like Brisbane house prices are more affordable than Melbourne… Whodathunkit?

Wagga's are even cheaper!

Of course there's a reason for that…

And we’re Australia's hippest city!

Issue 4 of Triumviratus, which I started 12 days ago, is now complete.

SAMPLE ART:https://www.facebook.com/ShaneWSmith.Author/posts/661212433918028https://www.facebook.com/ShaneWSmith.Author/posts/661074027265202

My #YearOf1000 pages is going really well. Have written or artworked a total of 163 pages so far in 2014.

Okay, Last Song Played Game Time!

Re-Flex – The Politics Of Dancing

Easily one of the best pop songs of the 80s, catchier than the common cold.

Tap at my Window by Laura Marling.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFrAsdvNq4w

I may have a problem.

Song before that: Playground Love by Air, Loser by Beck, Warpigs by Black Sabbath

Nope. I don't have a problem. I just have bad timing on these things!

Well the very next song I played was Underworld's "Underneath The Radar" so I was clearly in a cheesy mood myself

I rated the games of our colourful past. The Top Ten Most ’90s Videogames (Part Two) went live today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSPP33U_BrM – and last week's Part One is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEGk2U4TfpE – did your favourites climb aboard like rats onto a plague-stricken cruise ship?

Have a look if you find yourself bored – and nostalgic for a simpler time that was either worse, or better, it's hard to tell.

Bitching videos

If the word ain't cool enough drop the g at the end. YEAH!

Oops sorry,

Bitchin’ videos 🙂

Really enjoyed these! Thanks.Also, The Dark Room was perfectly frustrating.

Oh shit, John Robertson goes on here?!

I met you on your last gig in perth (you body surfed the crowd, it was amazing), love your work!!

Two early mornings in a row. Bleh.

On the plus side, Game Masters! \o/

How early is early? My kids have been up at 4:30 most days this week, and I’m trying to decide how sympathetic I should be 😛

Any hour that can be expressed with a single digit is early 😛

Also wtf that is crazy early. Even when I was doing my childhood wake-up-at-stupid-o’clock thing it was only 5:30 or so. Then we’d go out and watch that Stop The Pigeon show, because that was always on then for some reason.

I can't wait until my kids are old enough to get up early and not come in to wake us up 😛

Even better, I can't wait until they start to sleep in and we get to wake them up. Spray bottles, floodlights, horrendous alarms derived from their screaming as kids… so many glorious, glorious options!

My kids don't come in and wake us up, which is the problem. We have to be up or else they get into the pantry and rip EVERYTHING out and set about destroying the house.

Oh, right. That. Yeah, I guess it's probably better this way.

Have you & @shane not considered some sort of tethered restraints or perhaps a cage?

Oh, Muttley, you rambunctious hound…

I had a massive holy-crap-panic moment last night when my hard drive spontaneously stopped working. I have the OS on a separate SSD, which was fine, but everything else just went really weird, really quickly.

Turns out, after something like half an hour of investigation, the SATA cable had (somehow) jostled itself loose, basically unplugging the HD from the motherboard. Everything (except for the file I was working on at the time) was fine.

#CandyCrushSATA

This happened in a night when the kids wouldn't sleep, and the dog wouldn't stop barking, and my wife yelled at me for not being able to see in the dark. Conclusion: I think last night was haunted. Like the full moon passed over an indian burial ground, or something.

It was definitely loose rather than you pulled the cable out, plugged it back in and it worked again?

I only ask because I had a weird issue with a HDD I bought that I thought might have been faulty because it occasionally just vanished from windows’ list. Turns out it was just one of the upper SATA ports that seemed to think it was okay to shut down to save power whereas the lower level ones don't seem to have the option, I put the drive into SATA2 and haven't had a problem since

The cable was definitely out. I plugged it back in, and it worked.I don't know how it fell out (as I’d been working at my desk for over an hour and was nowhere near the PC case when it happened), but that's what happened.

Ahh, gremlins then

The SATA gag actually made me almost laugh.

*wink*It can be our little secret.

Can I get some TAYlist requests, anybody?

The Pretender – Foo Fighters

Whigfield – Sexy Eyes.

Also Peter Andre – Mysterious Girl

something by Tom Waits- maybe Bad as Me, or Big in Japan? Use your discretion 🙂

The beatles, anything

I just watched those 90s games vids, so I’m going to have to go with something 90s. I’m sure @trjn has some ideas… hmmm….

Anything Backstreet Boys or Spice Girls.

Edit: Oh!Sex and Candy!

Rednex – Cottoneye Joe or Hocus Pocus – Here's Johnny. #90s

I might play something, but don't get your hopes up, I’m not feeling a big ’90s vibe today

I’m not gonna cry (this week) if you decide to skip my request. 😛

That's okay, Hanson's best stuff came out in the last few years.

Stayin’ Alive – N-TranceKung Fu Fighting – Bus StopDon't Say You Love Me – M2M

Uh.. that last one. Yeah. I really like it. Pokemon the First Movie!

Sisquo – The Thong Song

The Sunscreen song!

Remember: you can't get pregnant the first time you have sex.

Oh shit, Not the Sunscreen song. Duh.

Marcy Playground edit. Nice.

Helicopter – Bloc Party

Queen – The Ogre Battle

Generals and Majors – XTC

Ooooohhh. Ohhhhhh.

Right Said Fred – I’m Too Sexy.

I Bet That You Look Good On The Dance Floor by Arctic Monkeys.

Music sounds better with you – Stardust.

Anything by Primus 😀

Foxy Shazam.

Anything.

Failing that

The Hives.

Anything but Tick Tick Boom

Won't have:

Circuits and Wires – Motion City Soundtrack

May have:

Dance Commander – Electric Six

Will have (and if you don't I will be disappointed):

Sharp Dressed Man – ZZ Top

Goddammit, Sharples.

Now I’ve got "Girrliesallgehcrehzy for a SHARP DRESSED MAN thnk thnk thnk thnk" stuck in my head.

Obscure hipster request:Spirit Army – The Starlite Desperation

Serious request:Bitter Sweet Symphony – The Verve

Edit: just noticed you’re not feeling the 90's today, so…Serious, not 90's request:Kings of Leon – Use Somebody

Well, now I need to listen to Bitter Sweet Symphony.

I’ve been on a mid-90's brit rock bender recently. so much Oasis & Verve & Manic Street Preachers. Not Blur though. fuck Blur.

Easy.

Blur are ok.

They had that one song…

the only song of theirs I like is Tender. the rest… not my thing.

???

http://youtu.be/LoQYw49saqc

I prefer Blur to Oasis.

fair enough. personally, & from a technical angle, I think Oasis wrote better songs.Probably because Oasis ripped of The Beatles, while Blur copied The Kinks.

Same here.

Then again I also prefer being kicked in the bollocks to Blur…

I like Bittersweet Symphony, it's things like Hanson and Backstreet Boys that get my goat.

You do realise that Hanson is a band that I genuinely like and listen to, right?

They do the sort of instrument driven pop-rock (and I use the term "rock" incredibly loosely solely to differentiate between the more heavily produced pop) that Phoenix does. If there wasn't the baggage of Mmbop, they wouldn't get this sort of reaction.

When I want mindless pop that isn't a shitty looped beat, Hanson is my go-to band.

Probably wont have – Magic Dirt – Dirty JeansMight Have – Depeche Mode – Just can't get enough

FAITH NO MORE – Evidence

Underworld – Underneath The Radar

And requests are closed, thank you, everybody who suggested songs.

Uggggh. HR announced casual January at the beginning of the year and wearing jeans every day has been great. But I’m back in a suit today because I have a thing I have to go to. 🙁

I might look professional but wearing jeans makes me more productive, dang it.

I want Business January! I have no reason to wear a suit these days, but I wanna! 😛

I can get excited about wearing a suit from time to time, but that's mainly if I buy a new suit. I haven't bought a new suit for awhile because I’ve been losing weight and don't want to spent $700 of something that will like like a hand-me-down from grandpa in 6 months.

Better than the other way around, trying to squeeze into something that used to fit you perfectly but now…. well. I won't describe it in detail because I totally haven't been THERE. Nope. Not at all.

As it happens this is the first time I"ve been able to wear this suit comfortably for awhile because it's been a couple of months since the jacket could be buttoned. Kinda packed it on a bit after quitting smoking. :/

Suit? What city are you in, Melb?

Sydney. We wear suits sometimes. Our general counsel asked why I don't do what she does – bring my clothes with me and get changed. Sure, if all I had to do to go from "casual" to "business" was change skirts, that’d be great. But guys business dress standards a slightly more rigid than that. Bringing an entire suit and dress shoes in a bag on public transport then changing out of my jeans, sneakers, t-shirt and casual button-down shirt and having to lug that around with me/back home is way more annoying.

Ew. I live in QLD, northern QLD at that. I refuse to buy a suit, even if I was applying for jobs in Brisbane. It's just too hot.

Yeah, suits can be a pain in the ass. Wearing a suit means paying for dry-cleaning and whatever kind of transportation arrangements allow you to either travel without sweating or carry your clothes without wrinkling them or have access to an iron. Those laundry-bag type things? They really don't cut it. Especially not if your suit's a high-quality one.

Why do things (either ants or mosquitoes) decide that the sole of the foot is the best place to bite?

My cat is trying to play bass. He just played an open E sting. Before long he’ll be playing like Les Claypool. He just played a muted E string. What a talented kittie

Can anyone recommend the most Freelancer-like game around at the moment, that isn't actually Freelancer? I would be most appreciative of any suggestions.

In terms of open-ended space games there's a fair few on Steam these days. Can't guarantee the quality of all of them, though 😛

That's what I’m a-feared of. I’m about to take an income hit, so I really don't want to piss away my moula.

Whatever you do, avoid X-Rebirth at all costs. Not worth your time or your money.

Did see some of the reviews on that were… less than favorable…

Did they not end up fixing that up? I know the launch was less than ideal but they seemed positive about improving it via patches

You could always do what apparently everyone else has done and back star citizen. Probably more waiting that you want though.

Mmhmm, I’ve got some holidays as of this weekend, and was hoping to get some nice blocks of hours in over this time. I’ve been looking at Evochron Mercenary, but i’m not convinced it has lastability.

If money's tight and you don't mind a kind of cheesy take on it with many of the trading/faction-rep/armada-building itches scratched, watch a couple videos for Space Pirates And Zombies. (S.P.A.Z.) It's quite a nifty little thing with plenty of playability to it.

And the complete opposite end of that scale is X3. It's huge, detailed, complicated, and not entirely intuitive. A lot of its flaws were meant to be address in X-Rebirth, but my understanding of that mess is that it got ‘consolified.’ So… yeah, think Deus Ex 2 to Deus Ex 1, only apparently worse? I was skeptical already so didn't even bother to follow it.

(It really is a crying shame, y’know. The original Elite was actually on the NES, unsullied, for chrissake!)

Reply Fail.🙁

Reply Success.\o/

Or Reply Opportunity?

Listening to the album Repression by the French band Trust. I first heard them because their song Antisocial (from that album) is in Guitar Hero World Tour. Anthrax covered that song, but in my opinion, the original is much better, particularly as it sounds much angrier in the original French.

So last night's JC2MP session was pretty frakking fantastic!

@Rize and I started out on the ice lake just messing around (TRAT TANG-MO!) waiting on @mytheamphetamine, @serNobulus and @Cakesmith…Some randoms showed up that was promptly mowed over by my flying boat…Aleph showed up and we started turning the icelake into a destruction derby…(hint; TUK TUKs going 700km/h are not good for destruction derbys)After we got bored with that, we went exploring… in limousines… at 300km/h…when i say exploring i mean of course crashing, badly, and sometimes ending up in places we didn't expect…After we got bored of that we broke out the planes (AND SUDDENLY, A BERING!) with plenty of mid-air collisions… then another random showed up and tried to kill us but he was no match for Rizes rockets…and lastly we did gravity races from the top of the tallest mountain (aka Peak) in icecream vans…I am now gripped by how perfect this game is and i believe that messing around in that should be a regular thingtl;dr, we crashed, burned, died, killed, crashed and went very fast because PHYSICS

I want Just Cause 3 already dammit.

so much jelly, I have it on console, so no multiplayer for me. I couldn't stop playing that when I got it untill there was nothing left to blow up, I got the platinum and had destroyed something like 95% of all the destroyables. such a fun game.

Pick it up on sale on Steam, it gets damn cheap! and the multiplayer mod alone makes the entire thing worth it all over again 😛

I don't have a decent puter, ours would explode if I put games on it, I’m planning on building a ridiculous PC with my tax return, hopefully with the help of some Taybies 😀

You mean my Crotch Rocket of Doom?

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=221767351

I STILL HAVE THE STUPID JINGLE STUCK IN MY HEAD FROM THIS!

After we got bored of that we broke out the planes

Correction; you guys got in planes. I spawned flying boats.

This is true, i was torpedoed by it mid-air XD

Rize: "Okay guys lets all get in planes"Me and everyone else: "Okay!"Rize: "…nob, I don't think that's a plane"Me: "IF IT CAN FLY IN THE AIR IT’S A PLANE".

Must. Get. JC2 on Steam.

EDIT: I didn't realise the multiplayer handled more than two people until now! So I never bothered to buy it when it was on sale 😛

I don't mean to push BUT:DOOOOOO EEEEEEEEEEEET!

Like $2 on special lol.

Oh man, I love JC2. I shall have to join you guys one day. 😀

yes, yes you do!

Ok fine, I’ll reinstall

Yezzzzzz!(- (-_(-_-)_-) -)one of us, one of us

DARK SOULS TWOCountdown: 40 days HNNNGGHGHGHGSJKFHDS

@negativezero, the mechanics we were discussing yesterday:

Producer Takeshi Miyazoe says […] "Before, the matchmaking was based upon player level," he said. "That will remain, but we also want to focus on how much time you’ve played the game." (from http://www.gamespot.com/articles/dark-souls-2-will-let-other-players-ruin-your-game-even-when-hollow/1100-6417413/)

So it looks like there will be a more complex algorithm that uses both player soul level and time played to determine matchmaking. That sounds good to me, and (I think) should partially alleviate the concerns you had.

And… new pages in the Dark Souls comic. 10 pages up now. The art is quite purdy.https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.547965298609852.1073741834.119869331419453&type=3

Doesn't alleviate the primary concern I had, people invading the game constantly with no way to opt out short of playing online. That's an experience I 100% don't want to have, ever, and will not be buying the game because of it.

Fair enough.

Er, what covenant are you in? If you’re in Way of White, Sunbro or Princess Guard you’ll only get invaded once an hour if that. I’m nearly always in them and the vast vast majority of invasions I deal with are after being summoned by someone else. All the others are PvP covenants and you’re kind of asking for it in that case.

We’re not talking about DS1

Yeah but there's apparently a similar system in 2.

I think there will be a good share of fucktards and dickweeds on there the first few weeks, but it’ll calm down pretty quickly.

But "once or twice an hour" is still more often than I want it. Which is never, unless I choose to participate for some reason. The game is hard and frustrating and time-consuming enough without having to contend with other players, even periodically. That's why I haven't even considered un-hollowing myself while playing. In fact, I didn't even want to play the game for a long time because I wasn't aware you couldn't be invaded unless you were human.

I want the safety net, the ability to choose not to participate. I’ve spent many years in open PVP MMOs and that is never an experience I will choose again, I actively hate it. Taking away my ability to choose not to participate in that element basically ruins the game for me.

You might think that sounds melodramatic but that's how I feel about it. It's an absolute deal-breaker for me, especially when I have a huge pile of shame and there's heaps of other stuff vying for my attention.

There’d be a way to game it but it’d be expensive & more than a little impractical, buy 2 copies of the game and invade yourself so no one else can. Given how DS1 has the mod to prioritise friends when summoning, there must be some way to block the mechanism entirely.

Play offline. That's what they suggest is the alternative anyway.

@negativezero What would be ideal is if it was something like a difficulty setting. Let you add a layer of difficulty by allowing invasions but it's also the thing that allows you to summon help so you have to weight up the risk vs reward.

@aliasalpha: that is exactly the risk-reward of being Human in Dark Souls 1.

I really struggle to understand the thought processes of my head office at times. They’re desperate to get my shop franchised (and burnt any opportunity of convincing me to do it) but this shop is too busy to run singlehandedly but not quite profitable enough to comfortably afford a second person (that said I’ve been working my ass off in here and have a 12% profit growth for the YTD, 2nd highest in QLD).

Their solution? Raise my budgets by 75% and threaten me with performance management if I don't reach a target nearly double what the shop has ever done.

Fuckwits.

I’ve never understood how retail management can hold staff entirely accountable for the profitability of a store. Sure, a surly or lazy team member can lose a few sales, and a hyperproductive team member can boost business a little by upselling… but by and large, the level of influence that staff members have upon the day-to-day influx of business is pretty minimal.

Especially for locksmithing/engraving.

I used to work at a bank and it was about 10 times worse. Every single person that comes through needs to be sold something, it's up to you to figure that out in a split second. If you exceed your targets, your targets will be increased and if you don't reach those higher targets you will be performance managed. Traffic through the branch is no real excuse, neither is GFC or whatever.I was lucky. I’m not a great salesman but between making deals with the tellers to refer anything they have to me, I had a few repeat customers that only trusted me so I generally met sales targets and sometimes exceeded. But I saw a lot of people get really screwed over. One home lender led the state in sales for the last 12 years. She had 1 bad year where barely anything was happening and she got fired. Pretty sad.

When I worked at Toyworld, the boss tried to introduce personal sales targets. It led to one employee not doing anything else other than hug the till and get stuck into other people for stealing "her" sales, while all the other store duties (cleaning, stocking etc.) fell to me.

All came to a head when this other employee, whom I’ll call Ashley (because that was her name), came and asked me for assistance getting something up off a ladder for a customer. I went out, talked to the customer, went up and down the ladder 4-5 times, spent 15 minutes or so telling them about tricycles (while Ashley went back to the till) before putting the sale through and getting back to the important stock work I was doing… only to have Ashley come and accuse me quite viciously of stealing her sale in front of a supervisor.

Sales targets died soon after.

I could not be happier to no longer be working in a customer service role. This stuff is exactly why.

If you don't get the result we all want for you from the police, is there an option of moving into a management position or something?

They don't promote people in house. They get outside people for management. New area manager, about to take over current one who's about to retire, got hired from a Baker's Delight.

I won't put in words here my thoughts on that practice. Not sure the Kotaku server could handle that many obscenities.

See, not developing employees for management makes you a shit employer.

Exactly this.

100% truth.

So the new manager will be overly sweet, full of air and basically tasteless?

its the similar to the NSW dept of Education.hire teachers on one year contracts, and then when the dept decides they want someone with a certain skill / newer qualification, they don't encourage the current staff to get that skill / qualification, they just don't renew their contract & then hire a fresh outta uni teacher with the qualifications they want. also, they’re cheaper to employ.

Since some people were interested… hawt modelling pix of tuxedo onesie!!

@mrtaco @gingerchris86

http://imgur.com/4CU7Ax0http://imgur.com/AoHA66n

Awesome! that looks great.

You’ve done bad.

I wish i’d seen this before I bought my Traxedo last year (it was pretty shitty)! Where did you get it from? 🙂

Catch of the day.

Thanks mate!

Not entirely sure how or why you turned into a woman for the second pic.

Mostly stuck on the how.

If that movie Freaky Friday taught me anything, the trick is to assume the other party has an easy life and wish you could swap

You guys should make a video with a Morgan Freeman ‘March of the penguins’ voice over 😛

Ha, I only got one unfortunately. 😛 I’m pretty tall, so just in case it didn't fit me..

Stylish move.

GAh! reply fail

Woot! Reply success!

Attention cricket fans: This post might make you jealous. I’m going to watch the Ricky Ponting Tribute Match tonight. Here are the two teams I get to see play (spoilered so people who don't care don't have to see them.

Team Ponting5 Casey Young7 Ian Healy12 Matthew Richardson14 Ricky Ponting (Captain)15 Luke Hodge28 Matthew Hayden29 Brent Harvey36 Tim Paine (12th man)45 Stuart MacGill52 Dean Jones58 Brett Lee63 Andrew Symonds

Team Gilchrist2 Jarrod Roughead3 Justin Langer9 Greg Blewett16 Ben Hilfenhaus (12th man)17 Damien Fleming18 Adam Gilchrist (Captain)20 Drew Petrie22 Shaun Young41 Merv Hughes48 Michael Hussey64 Phillip Hughes69 Corey Murfet

Pretty good lineups eh?

Is this on tv? I’d watch that.

Unfortunately, I don't think it is. Shame, because it would definitely be worth having on dvd as well. I’m hoping Ian Healy gets to bowl and do his impressions of other bowlers.

That sucks. The best thing about watching the beach cricket tournaments is that they get some of the old school players back to mess around.

But why would you have Ben Hilfenhaus as 12th man? He's awesomeFor a Tasmanian 😛

I played against Ben Hilfenhaus in underage cricket, and went to school and played cricket with Xavier Doherty (my only real claim to fame).

Umm… my pop was once on the same plane as Ricky Ponting and got me an autograph which I have no idea where it went to. It was about 12 years ago.

Oh no wait, I saw Steve Waugh at a book signing only a few months ago. Though I didn't actually go talk to him

If it's anything like the Ian Healy one a few years back, the old blokes will put their backs out and not be able to play, one of the other guys will bat a century and Ponting will get bowled out for something like five. And the other team will win.

Hmm, the trailer for the Wolf Among Us (Ep 2) is up and I’m thinking that this may scratch my adventure gaming itch…

Problem: A rapidly growing child and other financial pressures result in me only having enough money for one thing – The wolf Among Us 1, Broken Age 1? I think The Walking Dead would be too much for me right now (financially and emotionally).

Any recommendations for cheap light-hearted adventure games?

I’d rather find a legal version of Grim Fandango that works on modern PC's, but ah well.

Wait until the next GOG sale and get the Daedalic bundle. I really recommend the Deponia trilogy and Night of the Rabbit in particular. Usually Wadjet Eye's games can be found for cheap, they’re throw backs to old school pixel art adventures. (Gemini Rue, Primordia and Resonance are great! The Blackwell Bundle is pretty damn amazing too.) Broken Age is incredible, but very very short. Can't help but think for your purposes you’ll get more value out of The Wolf Among Us, with new eps available through out the year!

The Wolf Among Us isn't particularly light-hearted. It's not the emotional wrecking ball that The Walking Dead is, but it's largely a gritty and dark story, and I think it’ll probably just get darker.

But that little baby frog was so adorable!

The Wolf Among Us isn't dark and harrowing like The Walking Dead. Both those games are kind of short. If you can swing for a The Wolf Among Us season pass then that’ll give you more bang for the buck over a much longer timeframe.

@shane: The blu-ray haul I got with the gift card you got me for my bday arrived today. THANKS MAAAAAAN. You awesome. 😀

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BfL37y_CMAArBHd.jpg:large

See, you talking about that made me go an order a copy of Cloud Atlas. And three Coen Brothers films.

LOOK WHAT YOU DID DC

I did good? Unlike @stickman! Who did bad!

Have you read Cloud Atlas?

Nah, but I likes me sprawling scifi grounded somewhat in realism!

Wanted to see this in cinema, but never got around to it!

The film is a good adaptation, though it foregrounds some elements that are only hinted at in the book. If you do like the film, definitely read it.

Also: You did well. Superman does good. Educate yo'self son!

Maybe what @dc means is that instead of [REDACTING] things, he's sent a little money the way of struggling retail and the floundering entertainment industry. He done real good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoE8ZgzaX7A

75% of that is excellent.

Which one didn't you like?

Wasn't a fan of Cloud Atlas.

Ah! I haven't seen that yet!

It's one of those movies that fall victim to its grandiose aspirations and ends up feeling a bit empty.

That wasn't for your birthday! At no point anywhere on the enclosed did I use the word ‘birthday’.You so crazy.

…

Was it just to buy something nice for myself? AM I A KEPT MAN! D:

I can't afford to keep someone. At best, I borrowed you for a while. 😛

Men are scum. 😛

So Elder Scrolls Online has a bonus exp thing for playing with a friend, if you complete the "Ritual of Mara" with them.

Unless I’m mistaken, this means you get bonus exp when adventuring with them, if you first marry them.

The Elder Scrolls: solving all lonely gamers’ social problems, one at a time.

Of course, you would marry someone for bonus xp

I’ve married multiple people in Skyrim, so my question here is: Can the bonus stack if you’re in a group, and everyone in the group is married to everyone else? Because I’d happily marry everyone if it helped me.

I think you’re looking for a different type of game. I’d send you a link but even Googling it could get me fired 😛

That's the Ritual of Mormon, not the Ritual of Mara.

I’m pretty sure the bonus won't be stackable for exactly that reason. 😛

You probably can't stack your spouses either… what kind of game is this?

Worst game ….

Wifestacker Simulator 2014 will make many an end of year list.

Dude, women are like Voltron. The more you can hook up, the better it gets.

Marry me.

On the topic of Elder Scrolls Online, I watched that 8 minute trailer and got really tempted to pre-order the CE. After double checking the price, I realised that to buy the CE and play the game for a year (cheapest sub rate) means $200+.

…naaaaah.

Why do that when you have JC2MP? 😛

The fact that the game costs $90ish and then you need to pay a sub fee ontop of that and I also heard it had ingame micro transactions? Why don't they just come into your house with a vacuum and suck up all your money / valuables

Then they would have to pay for a vacuum and an operator. Easier just to get you to send it directly to them.

They’d be able to bill you for the service wouldn't they?

Hey, that horse won't armour itself!

I have to say that they’ve done their darndest to make it appealing. I’m seriously considering diving in when it comes out (sans CE because that sort of money is ridiculous).

The really crap thing is, I really want to play it. I just can't justify paying full price AND a subscription.

The Guild Wars 2 model makes so much more sense that this amalgamation of everything. I know they’re trying to ape WoW's model but it's a bit different when the base game for WoW is only about $25 at the moment.

They should either drop the subscription or drop the in-game store. You don't need all three things to make money.

Yeah, that's why I love GW2 right now, I’m taking it up again and it costed me no more to do so.

The Guild Wars 2 model sucks if you expect the game to be supported with free, high-quality content patches for an extended period, though. Subscription is really the only way to make that sustainable long-term. Otherwise you’re going to be forking out for tons of expansions and/or DLC on a regular basis.

They’re still patching regularly and the content they’ve added has been brilliant. Don't forget that they make a tonne from microtransactions!

Yeah, I was thinking more of the original GW model. GW2 is basically a microtransaction-based free to play game with an initial pricetag instead of a free download. I guess you could argue all the retail subscription-based MMOs that subsequently went F2P are the same model?

I’ve never found any of the free to play / microtransaction-based MMOs – and that includes both Guild Wars ames – to be engaging enough to stick with them. But then, every MMO I’ve tried since WoW has had that issue.

There's a small chance I might try it if the game was free and you paid a sub or if the game was paid and there was no sub. The combination completely kills it for me

I’m semi-tempted but:

– All MMOs have shitty launches– The retail game is ridiculously overpriced even for standard edition– There's no guarantee it's actually any good– It's not possible to really tell if the endgame has any staying power in the first month after launch. Same goes for major patch scheduling etc.

So I’m going to wait for 3-6 months and see if the game has any staying power before jumping in. And by then, Everquest Next (which actually looks like a revolutionary jump for the MMO space) will be a lot closer too.

You only have to look at all the MMO launches of the last couple years to figure TESO will go B2P or F2P inside the next year, and if it torpedoes, expect that box price to be heavily-discounted on Steam sales.

And yes. The launch will be ‘rocky’ because some 10-20% of players will be unable to log in, which those players and the gaming press will consider to mean 95% can't log in on the very minute of launch day because something about ‘shiny and new’ turns people into drama queens.

They’ll spend the first six months of launch trying to squash all the bugs they really wished they’d had extra pre-launch time to fix but couldn't because big publishers don't like letting release dates slipping and paying people to work on a game which isn't currently making them any money.

And of course, the plague of MMO locusts will devour all possible content within the first couple weeks then complain that the end-game is dead and there's nothing to do except raid and PVP. Like every other MMO.

…It's kind of amusing, really.

FFXIV 2.0 seems to be doing okay so far though

Hmm. So Soundwave 2014 seems like a cool guy. Alice in Chains, The Living End, Mastodon, Jimmy Eat World, and 10 Years – all bands I like. I’m curious to see Dir En Grey also.

You forgot the other good bands too 😛

Also Soundwave may be organising an In The Ring fan chat session with The Living End, I asked they said it's not impossible and will try \o/

the AJ whatshisname Soundwave promoter guy who recently canned Harvest so he could buy into the BDO is a cock of the highest order.

It reeeaaaally pisses me off that he got rid of a pretty successful small festival that catered to a different crowd, just so he could pump out more of the same bullshit with the BDO. Seriously. every 2nd year, its the same bands on at BDO / Soundwave & it's killing the festival scene.

It is the same bands every second year? Damn.. Wish I had known! I guess there's a secret line up for Big Day Out & Soundwave going around I don't know about.

Just a few examples.Edit: given they’re both now owned by the same guys, this is both Soundwave & BDO.Deftones – 03, 07, 11, 14Mars Volta – 04, 06, 10Mastodon – 10, 12, 14Muse – 04, 07, 10Queens of the Stoneage – 01, 03, 11Trivium – 10, 12, 14Meshugga – 10, 12Metallica – 03, 04Alexisonfire – 08, 10

But Metallica didn't play Big Day Out in 2003, though… They only ever played 2004 at Big Day Out then 2013 at Soundwave.

Also when you do compare them, Soundwave and Big Day Out aren't even catering for identical audiences, there's a slim to nil chance I will go to Big Day Out each year but there's a 90%+ chance i’ll go to Soundwave since it caters for what music I like, last time I went to Big Day Out there were 2 acts that I really liked and a few I thought were alright, but didn't go out of my way to see them.

There's some over lapping with some bands like The Living End & Queens of the Stone Age and a few others that's always going to happen with festivals who go for rock music as a staple attraction, but then again Big Day Out also likes to branch out to alternative, rap, rnb, edm and other such music, where as Soundwave is more focused on punk, alt rock, rock, metal etc… It's really hard to say they’re one in the same.

Also with such big festivals like this the promoters go for what will bring in the most ticket sales and for such large touring festivals I understand it has to be that way, I mean they could run a poll in seeking what people want but I don't think they’d attract the right amount of people to vote in such a thing to justify listening. When you have 40,000+ people attending each date and say only 10,000 people vote overall it wouldn't look very good that about 5% of the potential attending population decided on the festivals headline acts or smaller acts. I know i’d like to be able to suggest or even vote on some acts but there just probably isn't the fan base these days to support Soundwave or Big Day Out bringing them out which sucks but I live with it.

I wish we could see a multiple day festival like Download, Sonisphere or Wacken Open Air be set up here with big names like they bring, but I doubt we will ever see it due to our population being so wide spread out it would never be economically viable. I know such exist like Splendour In The Grass, Blues Fest, Falls Fest etc.. But they’re not something that overly interests what I like.

So he's basically the equivalent of activision buying small developers and shutting them down because people were playing things that weren't call of duty?

Well if this article is to be believed Harvest Festival was doing poorly in the ticket department. Personally I wouldn't want to have a festival go ahead with only maximum of 20% tickets sold for one date and 40% for another even if the third had sold as much as 80% and take a loss of 5 million dollars over all.. It's just doesn't seem smart.

Also if he is telling the truth and it never broke even in previous years I don't really see the point in continuing something that is constantly losing you money.

This packing must end tonight or it's going to be a right nightmare getting things on the truck in the morning.

BOARD GAMMMMEEEEESSSS!

I really hope we can make it to that thing tonight. I honestly don't know what the odds are on it though. We’ve got to be completely packed before we leave the house and find time to get some food. Luckily, it isn't far away and we have access to this shiny blue box on wheels that will make getting there rather simple.

so you got a nissan cube then? :p

Oh dear, sweet, merciful Cthuhlu. No.

No no no.

No.

Damn it, I think I’m going to have to pre-order the digital version of the Imperial Edition for ESO.

Also, damn Hearthstone for being so addicting. I spent three hours playing it last night.

Damn video games in general, in fact.

How's the knee doing, my friend?

It's been okay, just very swelled up. Thanks for asking.

Arrow to the knee?

Get. Out.

Just discovered that Catherine is currently under $10 on the US Xbox store. If you’ve got an account, I recommend going that route. $10 is a great price.

My recommendation of Catherine is its brilliant and everyone should play it with the caveat of the game can go fuck itself.

Never played a game so hair tearingly frustrating but keeps me going back over and over until I beat it.

Also I made the mistake of playing while my wife watched. So much judgement.

I was thinking of doing a fresh playthrough with Mrs Shane making all the decisions. Gonna be awesome!

Never played a game so hair tearingly frustrating but keeps me going back over and over until I beat it.

Trials.

cc @mythamphetamine

Dark Souls

cc @everyoneelseonkotakuapparently

My gf saw the PS3 little video that plays when you hover over the game. She frowned and looked at me funny. 🙁

I honestly would’ve thought that would be the best part – the judgement. "What? What's wrong with that? You mean you DON’T feel that way?"

Honestly, I was really fascinated by Catherine when it first came out, but I saw a demo of the gameplay and came to EXACTLY the same conclusion: That the game can go fuck itself.

A few years later, to my surprise and joy, someone went and put the whole thing on Youtube, minus the shitty puzzle/platformer gameplay. So, basically just the only stuff I was interested in.If the game developers had posted that themselves, I would have bought it. I feel like I got ‘my money's worth’ from the game, but I didn't even actually buy it…

So the next Star Wars d20 campaign I’m in sounds like it will be starting up pretty soon. Time to bring out my Trandoshan scrounger aka my junkyard brawler. 😀

Man, how many campaigns are you in atm?!

I believe that makes campaign number 8. RPGs are my gravy man. Sooooo goooooooood! 😀

@redartifice *loud whispering* Take the hint! GM more campaigns with us! *thumbs up*

I’d actually like to play in a game of something at some point 🙂

Give me some time to at least try and wrap up one of the campaigns I’m currently in and I’ll look at potentially running something for TAY. 🙂

colour me keen

If you could run a campaign of whatever Star Wars RPG you are in, I’d definitely be keen for that 😀

When I get time in the future I’ll canvass some opinion on what type of RPG people want to play. I know @tech_knight is keen for something 40K related if only to be a Techpriest. 😛

I’m probably the least experienced in Star Wars but I’d definitely give it a crack if people wanted.

I miss my old West End era bounty hunter. He was a badass Chiss smartarse before we even knew what the Chiss were (just a "same species as thrawn" at the time)

TAYlist for the 30th of January 2014 TAYlist – the TAY Playlist, sponsored by computer glitches galore

Des’ree – You Gotta Be (I love this song, it's a staple whenever I commute to Adelaide)ZZ Top – Sharp Dressed Man (Requested by @cakesmith, you are lucky, I normally don't play songs from a CD)Whigfield – Sexy Eyes (Requested by @freezespreston)Duffy – MercyThe Hives – Hate To Say I Told You So (Requested by @dkzeitgeist, who wanted me to play some Hives)Beatles – Eleanor Rigby (Requested by @scree, who wanted me to play the Beatles)Foo Fighters – The Pretender (Requested by @rize)Right Said Fred – I’m Too Sexy (Requested by @freezespreston, this marks the start of the ’90s block)Vengaboys – We Like To PartySavage Garden – Truly Madly DeeplyThe Verve – Bittersweet Symphony (Requested by @35, and this marks the end of the ’90s block)Prince – Little Red CorvetteStardust – Music Sounds Better With You (Requested by @vonsack)Arctic Monkeys – I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor (Requested by @thecracks, the Arctic Monkeys also have a song named Chun Li's Spinning Bird Kick, I’ll have to play that sometime)Caper – How Would You Like To Be MeEllie Goulding – BurnBryan Ferry – Let's Stick TogetherDepeche Mode – Just Can't Get Enough (Requested by @gingerchris86)

Ellie Goulding?! Maybe my music tastes aren't too pop oriented for requesting after all! 😀

Request songs anyway, I only refuse to play songs if they are absolutely terrible (coughHansoncough) or if they have lots of swearing.

I was too late to request today, but was thinking about requesting Somebody to Love – Boogie Pimps as I was reading other people's requests.

The usual request time is from 9 till noon SA time, 9:30 – 12:30 Eastern, I’ll look forward to your requests in the future.

Is that a cover of the Queen song, or a different song with the same name?

Umm, I’m not too sure to be honest! I’m not great with song names!You tell me, haha!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6HSlZBNwUQ

Nope, the two songs are completely different.

At least tell me that you liked the song! Or at least what you thought of it! 😀

@liondrive it was okay… I probably wouldn't play it on air, it doesn't really fit in with what I play on air

Haha, fair enough 🙂 In all honesty it wasn't as good as I remembered it (I haven't listened to it in ages!), and the video wasn't the best quality :\Next requesting session I’ll request something though 🙂

The Ninja Turtles from the new film look like the Goombas from the 1993 SMB film.

The turtles have always looked a bit odd in live-action

The first live-action film was awesome. I still can't get my head around how they animate their faces – it's incredible.

Puppetry! They were still a little weird, but as good as they were ever going to be in the 80s

BOSSANOVA!

CHEVYNOVA!

EXCELLENT!

Nostalgia overload!

Also, I’d take animatronics over CGI of that same period any day.

I’ll take animatronics over CGI of any period any day 😛

I still think it's pretty good. There's not a whole lot of improvements (though there are some) that have been made in animatronic full-body costumes in the last twenty-four years that stand above the original TMNT movie. They managed to make them incredibly expressive, and rather nimble too.

Puppetry was so much better than CG. Stuff felt like it was *there* and the actors could interact with the puppet and stuff in a way that a CG model can't.

That was the first ‘live action’ movie I ever saw. Left an impression. Can even remember the snack I got. (Dixie Cup Ice Cream.)

It's still awesome. I drag it out and watch it from time to time, and though it's drenched in a lifetime of obsessive nostalgia, I think it's actually a legit pretty good movie.

Did the same thing and definitely agree. Then again I probably didn't have high hopes.

Aliens invade Earth and inadvertently spawn a quartet of mutated reptile warriors, the Ninja Turtles, who rise up against them to defend the world.

WHERE’S THE GREEN OOZE?*lip quiver*

Given how authentic remakes of beloved childhood franchises tend to be, the green ooze will probably be spurting from the ears of fans as their brains explode

I haven't looked into that in a while, I don't have high hopes, last i heard it was turtles were aliens and April O’Neil and Casey Jones were high school students who were dating :/. I really want it to be good, i love the turtles.

http://www.kotaku.com.au/2014/01/what-games-taught-me-about-having-two-girlfriends-at-once/

Oh man, I’m way, way too insecure for something like this.

Not even insecure, I wouldn't want to do so something like this any way. D:

It sounds plain weird to me. But if it works for other people, then more power to them.

…

…No. It's just weird. Damn it, it's weird.

Edit: With a tangle of polyamorous relationships, how do they plan Christmas? O_OThat's how I know it's weird 😛

I feel like… Uh… how do I say this without sounding like a jerk…

She seems to write this like it's the same thing as being gay or something. To me this is something else entirely and not something that can be written in the same way…

Or something. (Haven't got my head around it fully yet. Not sure I’m saying what I mean.)

Maybe I’m prejudiced? D:

I agree. Being gay is not a choice. Living with a pair of shoes under five different beds is. And it's not a conventional, mainstream, or common choice.

But even so, it's probably not wrong in the sense that she can live however she wants to live. Just doesn't sit well with me for some reason. I think because it almost makes who you date disposable or something? I dunno!

This might be the deeply traditional old-fashioned part of me speaking, but to me it seems disingenuous to pretend you can commit properly to more than one relationship at a time. Notwithstanding the logistics of it (does everyone live apart, or are there central couples that seek flings, or…?), it feels like you’d constantly be in negotiation, horsetrading, begging for attention or time, and trying not to be resentful whenever you’re not the priority of your partner.

I guess the alternative is to not care too deeply, but that seems to defeat the purpose of being in a relationship at all.

Or maybe that's just me. I can't even pretend to understand how this would work. It just confuses me.

Edit: but, yeah. Not trying to judge – if it works for her, then fine.

I think you’ve honed in closer to what I find weird about it. *nods head*

What makes you think that that is any more of a choice than being gay?The discussion is basically around sexuality and how people feel. Based on the number of people who are divorced due to cheating it seems like monogamy is the choice rather than being born that way.Just because it is different to your feeling of sexuality doesn't mean that they had more or less of a choice than you

I’d argue that people divorced due to cheating are not engaging in the same thing. In the vast majority of cases they’re sick of one partner and want another. The majority of them don't want both at once.

Additionally while it's absolutely true that people don't necessarily have a choice as to who they’re attracted to, they do have a choice whether they enter into a relationship with them. And they definitely have a choice whether they enter into multiple relationships simultaneously.

Making no comment on whether her lifestyle choices are good or bad, just that they are a choice.

Eh, I’m not going to push my view of relationship norms on people. It's a not a lifestyle I’d choose (at least not in the abstract) as I think it's very difficult to navigate and I think I’d prefer intimacy with only one person, but more power to her.

Yeah, I can't help but feel I’m being judgmental just cause I don't understand it.

I’m strongly of the opinion that if it's between consenting adults, and doesn't hurt anyone, it's fine.

That is true! She's not hurting any one, she can do what she wants!

Just trying to get my head around the concept, is all.

Also, oblig sad-sack joke:

I don't even have ONE girlfriend, so she can quit her bellyaching!

Agree. They can make whatever lifestyle choices they want in that case. Doesn't mean I have to agree with their choices, but I’d definitely go into bat to defend their right to make that choice.

I finally found the article I was looking for that explains a blokes first introduction to polyosity (which is a word I’ve just made up that describes the state of being polyamorous), have a read of this:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wwjtd/2011/11/adventures-in-polyamory/

Very interesting read.

It's Patricia, isn't it? I haven't clicked the link yet.

Yeah

She's a funny one.

Understatement of the year, and January hasn't even finished yet

One of the problems I find, is that it is more prevalent in the Queer community. I’ve dabbled in the idea before and it wasn't for me. Some people are able to spread themselves among more than one person, and good luck to them But personally I cant, I get too attached to people.

I almost always found in chatting with guys when I was looking for a partner the conversation went in the direction of Whats your name, Whats your orientation, Position (top bottom vers) then Mono/Poly

Mono/Poly? Are you certain they weren't just asking you to play a board game?

It seems to me that people expect gay guys to be poly / have an open relationship, which I find kinda dumb. Also, it's not really anyone else's business in the first place.

That's because of the "homosexual = depraved" stereotype.

See, my view on homosexuality is biased anyway, so I never understood the whole "depraved" stereotype. It's such a 60-80s concept (my dates may be a little out, excuse me, I’m young :P)

As far as I’m concerned, if you view someone as depraved, you’re just giving them a reason to act depraved without caring because everyone already thinks they’re depraved.

I agree, it's unrealistic and playing into gay panic bigotry from a long time ago, but that's where it comes from.

The fact that homosexual couples don't enjoy any legal recognition of their commitment to each other probably discourages it a bit too.

@negativezeroThat's another thing I don't quite understand. Just because homosexuals can't "legally" be married, can't they still have like a faux wedding or something? I mean, there is going to come a day when it is legalised, but why not just act like you’re already married? Like, have the (fake) wedding as a sign of commitment, go on a honeymoon, then just act like you’re married :\ Then when it is legalised, just go sign that marriage certificate to get it legalised.

I have a feeling that they’re is some legal stuff I’m forgetting / don't know about though, but the above is totally what I’d do.

The legal stuff for marriage is way bigger than a lot of people think, apart from just legal recognition (some of which might come from defacto recognition, I’m not sure how that works here), there's tiny stuff you never really imagine and then big shit like if you’re allowed to be with your spouse when they’re dying depending on individual compassion of hospital staff to recognise you as family rather than depending on the force of law like it should

Probably fair enough since the queer community is already used to doing things differently from the norm anyway.

The way I see it, there are two types of polygamy.

The first is the cult leader like man (I guess it doesn't have to be a man, but it almost always is) with a harem of timid and beaten down women. Now they don't have to be part of an actual cult, but the way things operate are usually the same; with the women being emotionally and/or physically abused into thinking they can't live without their man.

That sort of polygamous relationship I am completely against. It's not natural; it's not something people are born with in the same way you’re born straight or gay. It's an abuse of power, plain and simple.

The other type of polygamous relationship, the one talked about in this article (I assume, I’ve only just skimmed it), is the everyone is consenting and fully aware of what's going on and does it for love type thing. If you want to give this type of relationship a shot, sure, go for it. I’m not going to stop you. It's my personal opinion though that such a relationship will never work out long term. No matter how much you might all claim to love each other and be fine with it, jealousy is still going to abound, and things will eventually explode.

Yeah the cult leader example isn't polyamory, it's emotional abuse

I’ve never heard of someone call themselves a "poly" before. Like it's a sexuality, instead of a lifestyle.

Now I’m just thinking of birds.

Polly want a cracker? Polly wants all the crackers.

Cracker is a racist term

😛

I think that's what got to me so much. It was structured in the same language people use when discussing LBGT issues. This felt like it was an abuse of that language.

Maybe I’m reading too much into it?

Well, they were talking about it in terms of multiple sexualities, and a lot of the academic writing on non-heteronormative relationships comes from gender studies thought so a commonality of language is to be expected.

Pretty much everything outside of the cisgender heteronormative model is rebelling against the status quo so it's pretty natural that the language tends to band together. Shame so few of the people manage to…

Poly is actually the standard term for it in America at least, most of the stuff I’ve read on it have been from Americans and they regularly describe themselves as poly. Similar to cis & trans being used as a prefix to gender, technically correct terms used when the extra detail may be useful.

I’m interested in why you consider it a lifestyle choice rather than a sexuality?If sexuality is how and who you love doesn't feeling love for multiple people equate to a sexuality? If somebody is emotionally unable to form a monogamous relationship doesn't that make their sexuality poly?

Polyamory is kind of weird but as long as everyone is honest about it and doesn't get stupidly possessive, I say more power to them.

Subsequently, I imagine there's not many people who can really manage to sustain it long term since everyone involved would all have to be of the same mindset, as soon as one person gets weird and jealous the whole thing would crumble.

All that's based on reading other people's discussions on the topic of course, I’ve not even managed monoamory yet..

I’d never heard of it/didn't know it was a thing until rather recently, though once I did it made me start questioning how some of my previous relationships played out and wonder if maybe I am geared more towards that.

But then at the same time, it does seem a tiny bit off. Can't help but feel like it's a bit of a cop-out, like proper full commitment is too hard so I’ll just take the nice bits and leave out the rest.

Well imagine that you were bi (or if you are bi, well done for being the perfect orientation for my example) and were in a relationship with a woman. Then we meet up, now I’m dead sexy so you’d obviously want a go. Assuming nobody lies about it and no one gets hurt (unless you’re into that sort of thing), is there any harm? If there's no harm once, is there any harm making it a recurring thing?

Commitment doesn't necessitate monogamy after all, it's just the societal pressure that pushes that viewpoint. I’m committed to my gaming PC but I’m still playing my Xbox and PS3 regularly.

Haha, that's a great way of framing it 😛

I guess it really is mostly just a battle against how we’ve been made to think than anything else.

As Kenobi said, many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.

If you take a good look at pretty much everything you’re not supposed to do and which doesn't have a demonstrable harm attached, at the end of it you’re likely to find an authoritarian dick who didn't like something and used their power to enforce their will, over time it becomes the norm and then culturally automatic.

Even as comparatively recently as the 60s when my sister was in school, she had a teacher who was pressuring students (by which I mean caning then when they failed to comply) to not write with their left hand because left handedness was evil… I mean how fucking mental is that? That's the kind of shit that festers if you don't regularly examine ideas and demand they justify themselves.

Haha yeah, my mum's told me that story about the nuns at school too 😛

my dad was forced to write right handed and he has the worst handwriting ever. Even when I was in grade 1 they put me into the "remedial" class because i was left handed and it wasn't until they realized that all the kids in the class with actual learning disabilities were all copying my work that they put me back in the regular class. Jerks. Funny me, my mum and sister are all lefties and my dad was.

It's not for me either. I could probably do a harem, but I’d always have my main girl and would not like what it would do to her feelings.

People are complex creatures, fueled by multiple drives which often contradict each other, seemingly mercurial in the priority they place on each. Which is normal. Our body and brain chemistry can change daily, and our concept of what is right or true is formed almost entirely of our experiences, which are also far from static. It's perfectly natural for a man to want to sow his wild oats, but also want to claim and protect his partner and progeny. It's natural for women to want the wilder, alpha traits of a dominant man who will produce the hardiest offspring, but also seek out the safety and security of the more stable provider figure. Novelty is a thing – it's why the ‘shoot wad, close 30 browser tabs of porn’ meme is so popular, why men and women have cheated on each other since the dawn of time despite censure.

Hell, even BECAUSE of censure – taboos are part of the excitement, and sexual role-play has been around much longer than ‘sexy french maid’ or ‘sexy nurse’ outfits have been in the sex shops. The ‘playing doctor’ fantasy, the ‘extra credit at school’, the ‘schoolgirl outfit’ are all popular and safe ways of getting a taste of the taboo thrill without actually going out and committing statutory rape or breaching public trust. And people will do some strange things to rationalize that desire for the taboo, or to find a way to get it more reliably.

They’re all factors and we’re all subtly different in weighting those factors for our own personal preferences. Any time I can't understand someone's individual preference, all I have to remember is that there are people out there who are genuinely, no joke, sexually aroused by feet. Not putting it on because it's fashionable or edgy or they’re bored and run out of things to fetishize, but because that part of their brain says this is A Thing. And that's OK. I dig both redheads and asian women. It's OK to have multiple tastes. There is not really so much clear boxes to place feelings in, such as, "This is monogamy, this is polyamory," and someone's actions either puts them in one or the other; the lines are instead blurred; as with most any labels, usually.

The thing about polyamory for a lot of folks – especially in the US where god damn do they care about labels – there is a ‘community’ around it. Much like any other group of folks who have a particular hobby or calling or lifestyle which is underrepresented or socially geared-against. They call themselves the ‘poly’ community and people use it as a way of self-identifying, but also, a friend who used to into that scene tells me, as a way of finding support and figuring out ‘best practice’ (while denying that's what they’re doing) because jealousy and ego don't really give a shit how enlightened you think you are – when someone you care deeply about and have shared that special, intimate, intense, and private bonding with goes and does that with someone else, you are all too keenly aware that they are NOT thinking about you in that moment, and you are – in that moment – alone. The ‘community’ is not immune to the same failings they decry as the pitfalls of monogamy and ‘cheating’ still happens – such as secretly sleeping with people that one partner has explicitly indicated they don't want the other to. It takes a special kind of narcissism to endure that kind of ego-battering long-term unless engaging in a very one-sided harem.

But at the end of the day, it's about communication. I remember commenting once that just because you sleep with someone doesn't make you suddenly in an exclusive relationship, and just how alien some people found that – but the fact is, you will never know if that is or isn't the assumption being reached by all parties unless there is communication. For my part, I begrudge no-one a difference of opinion or goal unless it interferes with my own. And the only way that can happen is if there is a lack of communication, preventing me from having the information I need to know that this is ‘not my scene’ and to bail. And having the self-awareness and confidence in your own preferences to not try and stick it out with someone or something you’re not comfortable with because you ‘should’ be more ‘enlightened’ (it's a word thrown around a lot in 2000-era poly circles), or to make someone else happy, or thinking that MAYBE you can do this.

Nope. Your gut knows what's going to work for you. Trust it. And don't especially care about what others think of that. Life's too short to spend it twisted up in worrying about having done what's right for you.

Have I ever told you just how much I enjoy reading your comments? Even if I happen to disagree with a point you’re making (rare), your comments are still a treat.

Well now I’m blushing. Thanks.

Same goes for me mate, when I take over the world I’m planning to appoint you my minister of talking nicely to the public. I’ll still take sarcasm, ranting and logic but I don't do nice and persuasive as well as you.

How do you respectfully and safely suggest/carry out threesome that involves multiple girlfriends?

That is actually a really interesting question, although it almost comes off as Patricia bragging. Polyamory is a really interesting subject. How is the human brain wired to deal with that? Is monogamy a product of the brain, or of society? I would guess the latter. Will society remain in its monogamous mindset? I cannot answer such a question. Society has always had some weird views on sex, and I am glad that the lines of communication are finally opening up.

Either way, reading Patricia's article and the article @aliasalpha linked has been an interesting experience, Quite enlightening. I am always open to other ideas, in the hope that my opinions will be more enlightened than what they currently are. You must consantly subject yourself to other worldviews if you hope for your own worldview to improve.

There's a commenter over at Giz that's got a fixation on building a hyperloop via a lottery. It's a bit weird.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/undertake-global-public-lottery-program-build-free-hyperloop-network-usa/nvbxD6D1

EDIT: Oh man, it's the same dude who had the first comment in that time travel thing the other day

The lottery would sell two billion tickets at five hundred dollars each

I’m sorry, what?

He thinks you start a lottery at $500 a ticket and use $$ from that to build a hyperloop in California. And buy a bunch of people a Tesla Model S?

That's just weird, man. Way weirder than Patricia. Even weirder than the new Ninja Turtles movie is gonna be.

This must be #WeirdPageEight

OH. MY. GOD

THAT SHOULD NOW BE A THING

Imagine how strange (@strange) it’ll be for @strange when she finds we’ve instituted a new novelty page in her absence, given her love of page six.

Turn every page EXCEPT 6 into a novelty page

Soooo, every man, woman and child in the US has to throw $3163.06 towards the Hyperloop?

Oh wait. Just actually read the link.

That's even more nutty.

Signatures needed: 100,000

Current signatures: 2

The most terrifying thing is that he's got someone else to sign it.

What the fuck was that time travel post all about? I read it and felt like my brain burst.

The pop sound was the logic part of your brain shooting itself.

You know what else is weird? *pulls pants down and points at growth*

#weirdpage8itbegins

Save THAT for page 18.

Oh right, of course. Apologies to the ladies.

*stares*

Yeah man that is pretty weird…

I’m not sure if growth refers to [redacted], or the normally-present [redacted]… or the abnormal-growth version of [redacted].

D:

That's the weird part. 😀

Does anyone else think it looks a bit like a badger?

Wee!

http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDQ65002.shtml

Ah, when Irish Eyes are Smiling.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oxSeTZkJsI

#weirdpage8

Oh.

@dc and other Arcade fire fanshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fpl_p8-BeU

So far away. (Humble brag, I was three people off the front at BDO. XD)

Lol thats cool, not my video, but is my highlight of the set! 🙂

#weirdpage8 you say?

http://i.imgur.com/OjINsrt.gif

KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gah! did it again…

Never mind Britney, we forgive you

Game Masters was pretty cool. Mainly the arcade section. A lot of the controllers and stuff were fairly worn and hard to use. Still, got to see some games I’d heard of and never known anything about. Also plastered my initials everywhere I could on the high score tables.

In hindsight, really should have jumped on SingStar and belted out something in a loud, obnoxious manner.

I need a favour from people. I was after the inkjoy pens, but it seems like they haven't brought them out to Australia yet.http://www.officeworks.com.au/retail/products/Office-Supplies/Stationery/Pens/Ballpoint-Pens/PA1781568My officeworks was out, don't go out of your way, just if you happen to be there. I will reimburse cost of pens and postage.

I wish I had an officeworks near me 🙁 that's a good bargain.. I’ve seen the Ink Joy series at Big W not that pack though, I almost bought some cause they were moderately priced, not that well priced sadly, but wasn't sure if they were proper ink or gel ink pens..

It's pretty good. I have some of the inkjoy pens but there's only 4 colours. I need all 10

Tweeted at you.

Responded

I’ll have to try them out \o/

Wow, that was an intense match of Hearthstone I just played. As a mage I was playing a Warlock and he managed to get me down to about 8 health while he was still sitting in his 20s and had a bunch of strong minions on the field. I managed to destroy his minions though and then draw the match out long enough that he ran out of cards and started taking damage because of that. I didn't think it was possible to pull comebacks like that in this game, but I guess I was wrong.

I’m not sure how much faith I have in Dr nerdlovebeside people calling them Doc so I instantly think it's @doc_what commenting today's advice seemed a little off.

My girlfriend doesn't like me watching anime and cartoons.I’ve got a great idea, perhaps you could get them to share your interests by getting her to watch perfect blue with you

WTH

The whole "nerd culture" thing irritates me to be honest.

Seems to have a lot of baggage attached to it. I’ve been out at a few work-related social drinking things where the folks will try to talk to me about football or whatever and when I explain we might need to try something else because I’m actually a huge geek or nerd or whichever you’d prefer, and they say that I don't ‘look like one’ or ‘act like one’.

Pretty confident there's a healthy percentage of the population who thinks geeks = the characters from Big Bang Theory. And sure, I challenge anyone to spend an hour in a Games Workshop store and not think maybe they have a point. But there's so much more to it than that.

Just like not only geeks are awkward and inept in love. That's just young/inexperienced EVERYONE in general. (Except for the typical underwear model valedictorian fortune-500 heir, but y’know… outliers.) Like almost anything in life, experience = increased confidence = increased success.

The guys in big bang theory are more nerd than geek. I’ve always considered geeks to be stuck in that middle ground between normal and nerdy, but really, anyone can and will be geeky at times. Geekdom is more about passion than the ‘brainiacal obsessiveness’ demonstrated by nerds.

My own mother is convinced my life is like the big bang theory but without the cool jobs. Some times I’m afraid she's right.

My dorm block was almost like the show at one point.

I agree. The ones that annoy me more than anything is the aggressive geeks, who think that because they like geeky things that makes them better than others.Met one the other night at trivia who was saying things like This isn't geek trivia, why even bother. Along with the standard derogatory remarks about people who like sport.

Pfft. Amateur hour! The way to break a girlfriend into anime isn't Perfect Blue, it's Millenium Actress, Spirited Away, and Cowboy Bebop.

I like this guy, prolly shoulda sparked uppa convo that other night….

Well, there was a shortage of spare seats. All the same, plenty of meat opportunities coming up! We will chill and riff on cool hobbies.

Sup guys. I’m currently in the market for a HDMI switch, was checking out eBay, but everything just looks like it won't work for long, essentially i’m after a 4 or 5 port switch, since my TV only has 2 HDMI ports and one is permanently taken up by my HTPC/Media Server and the other one is for my PS3/PS4 but I had thoughts of buying an Xbox One later this year so would much rather have a switch I can use with a remote to change inputs rather than switching them over every time I want to play whichever console.

I was looking at JayCar but they’re really creeping up in price these days for stuff that is usually second rate build quality sadly. Ideally i’d like to spend under 50 dollars but I guess up to 100 is acceptable. Does anyone have any good recommendations?

http://www.anyware.com.au/MB-HDMISW41S.aspx I can get you one of these for about $40.

I saw those on ebay and wasn't really sure about them lol. But cheers! I’m not looking to buy something right now to a limit of funds, but somewhere down the track for sure! Would you recommend it? 😛

to be honest there's not a lot of choice when it comes to these things in aus. A-ten gear is pretty good. I’ve never tried the other brand before, but that's only cos I’ve never needed anything from them. I trust the supplier, so generally I trust the gear they sell even if I’m not familiar with it.

Ah right, cheers man!

Try Jaycar.EDIT: Bam! Found it:http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=AC1693

Make sure you get ultra-low-latency ones. Xbox one will provide plenty of that anyway if you use the input.

Also make sure you get full 8-channel PCM pass-through (sound) for future-proofing.

or one of these for close to the $100 mark. http://www.anyware.com.au/VS-481A.aspx

erg. reply fail to @virus__

@liondrive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUbMWtUyIIE

Ahh, I knew Boogie Pimps wasn't the original! This is like the only old song that I like!Don't you want somebody to love? Don't you need somebody to love? 😀

Jefferson Airplane are just brilliant in general.

White Rabbit is my favourite of theirs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WANNqr-vcx0

Hmm, I like it! Not as good as Somebody to Love though 😛Weird, I usually hate old music!

Woo, after being stalled for ages due to O&S being dicks and then the game just not working for a while, been making some solid DaS PC progress.

Four non-DLC post-O&S bosses eliminated last night. \o/

Three of them with 0 deaths. \o/ \o/ \o/

(Not my first time playing DaS (finished it pre-DLC on PS3) but I’m not exactly the most skilled player.)

Nice.I might try to take on Queelag tonight.

\o/ Praise the sun!

But I don wannaaaa

So my mate is looking for a new guitar and we were looking at Strats and I linked him to the Ritchie Blackmore signature Strat and was all "It's only good for playing Smoke on the Water." now he cracks up every time he spots it on the Fender site. Not sure if many will know but Ritchie Blackmore was a founding member of Deep Purple and came up with rocks most infamous riff, Smoke on the Water.

His looking for a new guitar has got me looking (again) for a new guitar and I spotted that Fender make a Squire (Mexican made) version of Jim Root's Telecaster and it's about a quarter of the price of the USA made one, given my Les Paul Junior needs it's wiring redone and I wanna replace the single pickup with a single P90 and replace the tuners and bridge I think i’m better off investing in something better built.

http://tinyurl.com/368aefj

Dream Guitar.

Wow.. The eagle in it sorta looks like the one Slayer use which is actually taken from the National Socialists.. At first I thought it was ESP doing a one off guitar for Jeff from Slayer, but it's still cool.

Here's the band.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueI77vQuELc

Lol what the.. All that double bass outta nowhere.

I have an Epiphone Special from 2008. Switched to chrome humbuckers only yesterday.

I’m not sure how well they hold up to their Gibson counterparts, however they only cost a fraction of the price. I saw one of these in Midnight Sapphire the other week on special at my local Allans Billy Hyde for A$499 and immediately fell in love.

The higher end of Epiphone hold their weight to some Gibson's for sure, apparently the new classic Thunderbird Pro is just awesome, I was looking at buying one a few years ago they sound amazing on paper and the fact they use real Gibson Thunderbird pickups not a cheaper version and have a through neck made me want one even more, since it's pretty much a Gibson just made in a cheaper country with for the most part identical parts. I’m just not overly fussed with this Les Paul Jr, to get the pick up for it I want costs as much as the guitar itself so meh.

Forgot about this, found the link in my favourites when swapping browsers:http://www.forgottenmemoriesthegame.com/#!vstc3=the-characters

It's looking great, totally unoriginal, but YES!

cc @doc_what

Looks interesting. Is it ONLY on iOS?

for soon. vitas 4 later. & wiiu too laters

NICE!

Wicked City on youtubehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01IMnzE8wk8

Turn on captions, Japanese only, get translation, hilarious results

"I spelled in 2001number 2 here is second only to yes.I’m now weAdoption deployment to get out of effect.""Spot news"

@freezespreston I forgot to say thank you. Sorry

Whatever I did I didn't do it *shifty look*

I was thanking you for looking for those pens for me

The first time I read that my brain added the letter "i" in there somewhere… :S

I do like looking at pens.

I just found out that the new Cosmos series which has been in development for a couple of years now is finally happening, starting on March 9. Cautiously excited for this. Neil deGrasse Tyson isn't as awesome as Carl Sagan was but he's close.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThroughHisStomachSo that's why the dog is currently sitting on my lap…Also, TweetDeck is officially quicker than the Twitter mobile app.

Said this on Twitter, but I’d watch the Coen Brothers’ adaptation of a photocopier manual

Hmm, my youtube channel has 1337 views, I kinda hope no one ever looks again…

Delete all your videos!

To be honest, I suspect the presence of videos has little impact on the popularity of my channel, they tend to average 3 views each and I know at least 2 of the viewers personally

Are they all you? 😀

Hehe well it depends how smart youtube is, I’m HOPING it doesn't count me making sure videos start as a legitimate view but it's extra tragic thinking they might

Heh, self views are counted! 😛

Well fuck, there goes any hope someone I didn't know was watching… Oh well, it's pretty much what I was expecting anyway and I’m doing it more for fun than anything else

That won't work, DELETE THE INTERNET!

http://lonelocust.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/l-640-429-b74f1e4a-31c0-4821-aadd-1e736b8e41e8.jpeg

Wait a minute… The elders of the internet? THE ELDERS OF THE INTERNET KNOWS I AM?

Had a lot of fun at the Ricky Ponting Tribute Match. Gilly's XI made 6 for 206 off their 20 overs, with Greg Blewett scoring 59 off 34, and Punter's XI made 6 for 207 with one ball to spare. Punter scored 83 off 46 and Matthew Hayden got 63 off 28 balls. Typical tribute match, with no one really trying too hard, but enjoyable none the less.

I’m kind of surprised that Greg Blewett's still got enough in the tank to make a decent score against a bunch of younger players like that. It's been what, fifteen years since he played professionally?

So the other night i decided that i needed to watch some of the more recent animated movies by Disney, Pixar, etc.Last night i watched Frozen, because everyone's been saying it's the best thing Disney has done for a while… and i totally agree. While i don't think the songs are as instantly memorable as their older stuff, they where really good.Also the humour was great especially the ‘Summer’ song, i thought that was gold!

Overall it was easily one of my favourite movies from 2013, would recommend.(ps. if you haven't seen the wolf of wall street yet, get on that. get on that right now!)

Also i’m in Melbourne this weekend \o/ and saturday and sunday i have nothing to do/planned and have no one to do said nothing with /o\ (is this how you do subtlety?)No but seriously, actually meating one of you guys would be cool.

Best way to plan a meat is to just say "I’ll be here at this time. Come."

At least that's what it takes for the Sydney TAYbies to come to a consensus on what we want to do 😛

"Olaf, stay out of sight!""ok!""hello!""AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" *Screams*

I got a hold of a wired Xbox 360 controller. I was playing Section 8:Prejudice with a M+K, and I decided to plug the controller in to see if it works. Holy hell, the drop in accuracy I experienced was tantamount to submerging my keyboard in treacle. I have only been PC gaming for a year, and I can't go back to using a controller anymore. How do you console users cope?

Skill.

….

I take back anything nice I ever said about you and am currently seeking legal advice on how to take back everything nice anyone else has ever said about you as well.

HEATHEN!*runs away crying*

I support your cause and I actively downvoted @shane. 😛

Right back at you.*runs away crying… too*

:'(

KB&M for FPS's always.I picked up a Logitech F310 because some of the games I had would default to 360 buttons when I had a joystick plugged in, and the KB+M controls on them were terrible, but most of those were third-person games. (Darksiders, Brutal Legend, etc,)

I cannot use a Keyboard and Mouse for an FPS nearly as well as I can a controller. I find the mouse too sensitive (I know you can change this, but shuddup! >:[ ) and the WASD keys too clunk for movement. Give me a controller any day! 😀

This is the biggest problem, both sides have a superior system depending on how you look at it. Analogue movement shits from a great height over standard keyboard, being able to sneak forward at a variable pace with a slight shift of your thumb is infinitely better than "Move 25/50/75/100% speed" that keyboards give you with speed toggles but there's no denying the vast improvement in accuracy a mouse provides over a thumbstick

I think it just falls to preference really. Like, I’m extremely accurate with a controller, sniping is my favourite class when playing an FPS, but I cannot snipe to save my life with a mouse. Even though I can see how a mouse is more accurate, I just can't do it. I’ll still take a controller any day, even for an FPS.

I can switch between the two pretty easily really, possibly because I’ve never stopped using one in favour of another.

The good console games (or more accurately controller setups) strike a balance between enforcing skill and adding autoaim to just make it practical to do anything with a degree of precision on a relatively crude device, too much in either direction and its unsatisfyingly easy or just wildly uncontrollable.

As a counter to a shooter, might I challenge you to play something like GTA4 & compare the driving between a controller and a mouse & keyboard? The controller will win hands down, to the point where when I eventually get the inevitable but still apparently not coming out GTA5 on PC, I’ll be keeping my controller powered and handy for any time I need a vehicle.

Aliasalpha's Inaugural Adventures In Dayz

I found some pants! They had bigger pockets than the ones I started with but they were green rather than black which I didn't like as much. I took them anyway. I made a tactical withdrawal from a zombie who was near a building I was curious about, I was hoping to evade detection and nip in the back door but when I was moving to try and sneak around him, I came to a road and spotted a barn further inland that I decided I might as well try for instead. As a bonus it had a water fountain so I could shut my character up from whining that she was no longer 100% hydrated. She's probably watched too many ads for Gatorade and is panicking that her electrolytes were dropping to near lethal levels.

After a quick scout around the barn to make sure it was safe, I nipped inside and checked it out. I found what I excitedly thought was a water bottle and ran over to grab it thinking I was in luck but it turned out to be a can of black spray paint. I considered writing a Dark Souls style message but it didn't seem like it was a useable item. Shame, a similar messaging mechanic would be a cool thing in DayZ.

I also found a clown mask which I think was a reference to that payday game, a red bandana that I couldn't see because there was a clown mask in the way, a can of food (well, fish. Technically edible but starvation may be preferable) and the best thing of all, A SHOVEL!!!

At last I had a weapon! With this I would be invincible! They laughed at me before but who's laughing now?!?!?! I set off up the hill towards the radio tower I’d been observing on my way towards the barn, it had power lines leading up to it and I was hoping it might be the outlying part of a military outpost. Sadly it wasn't, just a pair of shacks that had nothing in them. The radio tower had a nice long ladder to climb so I decided to head up to get the lay of the land.

This was a bit of a mistake, halfway up a zombie I’d not seen spotted me and came running over, I was thinking I’d be trapped up the top waiting while the zombie climbed the ladder after me so I readied the Shovel Of Devastation and waited. The zombie didn't follow me, clearly terrified of the power of my awesome weaponry (or possibly because they just can't climb). I ignored him for a while and got the lay of the land, I’ve not played Arma 2 that much so I wasn't too familiar with the place but I think I was in the south-western corner of Chernarus near Komarovo. I hadn't heard the zombie for ages and it seemed like he’d lost interest and wandered off, a quick look confirmed there was a zombie in the area he came from so I decided to make a break for it.

Fuck me if these weren't the zombies of some ninjas or something, 2 of the bastards were at the bottom waiting for me! Not a damned peep out of them as I was climbing down, no idea if they were 2 new ones and that other one I spotted was the original or if he was another one who hadn't joined the mob yet but I ran like crazy. Looking over my shoulder it was clear they were keeping pace with me and all hope for a peaceful resolution had failed. With a heavy heart, I tapped draw weapon.

My fists came up

FUCK!! Hit 1!!!

Out comes the Shovel Of Devastation +1 (it went up a level in awesome thanks to the exploration XP from climbing the tower).

SWING! "DIE ZOMBIE!!!!"

Oh I missed.

SWING AGAIN!

I think I missed again.

SWING!

Ohh I hit that time, it didn't seem to do much.

By this point with 2 zombies slapping me silly, I was losing blood fast and I hit upon the idea that maybe I’m using the melee weapons wrong, I’m probably tapping the mouse button and doing a pissy little jab so I should hold it for a power swing, that makes sense.

Swing and a miss… …and a death…

The Shovel Of Devastation +1 is a PIECE OF SHIT!

I’d have been better served using it to dig myself a grave and jump in it as soon as I found the fucking thing. Seriously, worse than fists and that's saying something, at least fists seem to have reach… Pissing on the zombies would probably do more damage.

This is the last time I get weaponry from Bunnings.

You should join our DayZ exploits good sir! Theres 4 of us playing. also @Weresmurf is supposed to be joining in as soon as we can pull him away from rust… game is much more fun in a group. Our main goal is to gear up, get armed then go through the big cities wipe out bandits killing freshspawns, and cause our own bit of mayhem….

and just as soon as we get geared up, someone dies so we go of course to meet them… and gear them up again.. nothing worse then dying from a glitch…

we tend to bloodjack people when we see them, but always give them stuff in return (canteens, can openers, food, bandages, etc… unless they have obviously just spawned in which case we just help them out or have some fun with them. we let them go afterwards.

last night i gave a guy my assault vest, canteen, fireaxe, and magnum (no ammo) as well as a bunch of food.

the next time i die, i will grab a bible and become a pantless preacher. and those who dont convert will be blessed with lead \o/

got re-geared after giving away my stuff. im like a walking gold mine at the moment, i have like 6 pristine saline bags, 3 bags of blood with iv kits attached, 2 pristine can openers, a Mosin with pristine attachments, and a ton of food. antibiotics, vitamins, morphine, charcoal tabs, you name it!

hooray, im getting the hang of this game! \o/

My giant base in rust got raided and cleared out last night by two trolls lol. We’re rebuilding today somewhere secret and I’ll be up for some dayz variance tonight for sure.

I probably will, depends on whether my GTA Online mate is around. Feel free to add me on steam though, same username as here, same goes for you @weresmurf

If nothing else I need to test the live gamer portable as a capture solution for the PC, bandicam did a barely adequate job of capping dayz last night, not sure if it was the game or bandicam itself playing silly buggers but I suspect the former.

Just spent half an hour talking with a co-worker about why the last season of Breaking Bad sucked. It's been a good morning.

Season 4's ending would have been pretty great if a little overly neat and fairytale.

It would be better than how it ended. I’d still prefer a season five to exist… just not the one that does exist 😛

I thought season 5 was alright (we NEEDED to see the fall of Heisenberg and they executed it well) but there were several decisions made that I was unhappy with.

A couple of my co-workers are currently in season 3 and 4. the one in season 4 keeps pestering the other to catch up.

I’ve seen all of it but no one talks to me. 🙁

COUNTDOWN TO SYDNEY

In less than 24 hours I will be hitting the dusty trail on my 10 hour drive to Sydney!

There will be tweets, there will be photos and there will be fun!

Will be staying in Sydney till around the 13th so meats will hopefully happen and I won't look like such a tourist in the state I was born in.

Celabratoryiness for everyone!

Enjoy it, man! 🙂

DARK SOULS… TWO!

*gasping for breath* Just 39 days to go.

Today's update: some write-ups of a preview build.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-first-20-deaths-of-dark-souls-2/1100-6417407/Interesting new mechanic: some enemies will only respawn a limited number of times. This will prevent grinding, and force players to progress. It will also make repeated runs to boss battles progressively less frustrating. Interesting! Another mechanic: Instant access to fast travel between lit bonfires from game start.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2092192/dark-souls-ii-preview-i-died-8-times-in-an-hour-and-loved-it.htmlThere is a tutorial, but it is hidden. And can be missed. There are also apparently lots of NPCs to talk with in the opening hour.

And some news:http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-01-30-dark-souls-2-now-with-more-peter-serafinowiczThe voice of Darth Maul will be providing some voice work in Dark Souls 2. My problems with The Phantom Menace didn't extend to Darth Maul's voice, so I’m okay with this news.

That first point in particular intrigues me. These guys have really paid attention to all the ways folks have been padding the landing while playing this game (grinding in certain areas, playing as hollow to avoid invasions), and seem to have worked pretty hard to ensure that everyone gets the full Dark Souls treatment.

but that's the only reason why i stay hollow XDthat and i can't deal with the loss of humanity… i’d rather stash it and never use it 😛…that might be why i’m not particularly great at this game 😛

This would basically be me in my playthrough:

"I don't even want to save humanity, why the hell am I here?" 😛

Not sure if this is info you already know, but ‘humanity’ is an item in the game that can be used for various things like healing and converting you from "hollowed" form (mostly immune to invasion) to "human" form, where you can be invaded, but also get some extra opportunities in-game. (If you die you go back to "hollowed" form – so using humanity on a section you’re not confident with (lol, entire game for me) can be seen as a waste – so @pixel_the_ferret_viking just stashes it.)

Never played it at all yet, so yeah I don't know that 🙂

I kind of don't like that. It feels like they’re just forcing everyone to play it in a particular way. With the first Dark Souls, I (just in case here)really liked that staying hollow meant you didn't get invaded. Obviously you missed some stuff, but that was your choice, and I still finished the game that way and felt satisfied with never ever going human.So ultimately it seems as if they’re eliminating a lot of choice, which is a big part of why I liked Dark Souls in the first place.

I feel this way as well.

‘IT’S FOUR IN THE F*#%ING MORNING!’Peter Serafinowicz was also Pete in Shaun of the Dead.

Of course! Thank you. That's where I’ve seen him before (and Spaced!) 😀*headsmack*

Small appearance in Black Books too.

Holy shit, I’m pumped. Cannot wait.*hops from one foot to the other like a child with a full bladder*

Same here. I’ve been tackling the DLC stuff for the first time over the past few days. Going through the Dark Souls work flow (ignornace->hopelessness->frustration->determination->practice->achievement) on content that's completely new to me 😀 So good!

I’m not super stoked about the first spoiler tag.Grinding is one of the things I love to take solace in when I’ve hit a wall and am making no progress. It only takes a little increase in power sometimes to get you some extra utility or let you try a different weapon or skill to get some variety in what's fucking you up – after all, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. "Maybe I won't suck as much this time," is hardly the most promising strategy to console yourself with over dozens of attempts at the same thing. I think overall I would find lack of a grinding option to be MUCH more frustrating when hitting a wall on a boss, or encounter. (Like those fucking greatbow archers in Anor Londo. Fuck them. Fuck them so hard. I still haven't beat them yet.)

I think the option to grind will still be there. It just won't necessarily be high pay-off grinding, because the bigger enemies will only appear a limited number of times. And they will still respawn around 15 times according to the article, so there's still some grinding that can be done. I get your point, though.

Yeah but if it's only 15 times ever in a single playthrough that means no grinding after a certain point. Some areas I probably ran through > 15 times just trying to clear the boss, but others I’ve spent way more than 15 runs farming a particular drop or just getting souls so I could level up a bit. Or even just to unwind because it gets so easy.

Is that the ones where you take on a bunch of the electric gargoyle things and then the snipe at you as you are running up the narrow little ledge things?If so that is where my game is totally stalled

Yup. I could probably do with some advice on that front, actually. I mean… I’m getting further almost every time, which only means that the next time I fuck up early I lose that giant pile of souls that keeps moving along the ledge. So that's a great motivator.

My present tactic is to wait for the guy on the left to forget about me so that when I run along the edge only the right-dude is shooting at me. And I’m using the pyromancy that turns you to steel or stone or whatever and just walking along the next tightrope with my shield up. My problem comes up when I reach the wall at the end and the spell wears off. The last couple times I’ve tried re-applying the spell, but I always get knocked off before it can activate. I’m thinking I’ll probably have to start rolling in time to the shots, at that point, until I can get close enough to force them to switch weapons. It doesn't matter which way I’m facing when the arrow hits, it always knocks me off the ledge, not backward along the ledge, so obviously not meant to get hit ever.

Sprint up the ramp. The arrows won't even come close. Go as quickly as you can around the pillar in the middle, and then sprint again. Once at the top, go as quickly as you can towards the one on the right, shield up.

You might get one more arrow in the back from the other one, but hopefully he’ll have forgotten about you. You’ll hear the bow twang at any rate.

The one on the right will draw his sword and come at you. Your best bet is just to block until he gets knocked off the edge, but there's an opening for you to swing after every successful block if you have to. Be careful not to fall off yourself. It's a really narrow ledge.

Then keep heading right, and drop down. Once you get inside, bonfire is in the first room on the left.

Oh so you ignore the guy on the left completely? Fudge, I thought the bonfire was of that side.

There's an item that he's guarding that's pretty cool (Soul of a Hero, I think). It's probably worth getting if you’re confident, but if you just want to progress, he can be totally ignored.

Hah. Clearly I just need to suck less – I sprinted last time and totally got hit. I’m not even wearing heavy armour, I’m still in Wanderer's armour, just upgraded.

Weird. I have never ever been hit while climbing that ramp. Going around the pillar takes some timing, but apart from that… could it be that in the three years since the game came out, these guys have developed aim? 😛

The first part of the ramp I’m fine, just getting around that corner and going onward I always got hit. HOWEVER, that was when both were still coming at me. The last couple times trying to tank it with the pyromancy, I was also wearing the silent boot ring, and was only getting shot at by the one guy.

Well I haven't gotten past it so can't be much help.From what I can see the best tactic is from the bottom just sprint up the first ramp until you are behind the clock tower thing and can recover all your staminaThen time wait until the bolt hits the wall then run out and up the next ramp. If you are sprinting all the way then the bolts will miss you, you don't need to use your shieldThe if you move towards the guy on the right he will draw his sword. When that happens turn and head towards the other guy. First guy will fall to his death. I think you can use you shield against the second guy. Try to get close enough that he draws his sword. Then you can either fight him or walk back along the ledge and he will likely fall off.I managed to get both of them with their swords out but I locked onto the 2nd guy so my movement changed and I walked off the edge. Don't lock on.

That first one's quite interesting. Given that you’re going to progressively lose health dying against a boss and/or other players who you can't stop invading you any more you’d think that that mechanic change would make it even harder since you would no longer be able to farm souls for consumables to heal your missing life again.

Sounds a bit shit in that case actually. I like being able to go back to old areas and grind easy mobs for drops and souls and feel how far you’ve progressed and how much better you’ve gotten.

It's important to remember that – if I’m reading it right – most enemies will still spawn infinitely. Probably including the ones who regularly drop consumables. You can still grind for relaxation too, in that case. It's just that some of the bigger enemies will have a limited lifespan.

I guess i should tell a little bit about what i’ve been up to in Dark Souls lately:

Was in the Dark Root Basin, but realised after continued failures that it might not be the best way…So i headed back into the Dark Root Gardens and found what i can only assume is a Hydra… easily made mince-meat of it (well on the second try because i stumbled into the pitfall the first time… WHO THE FLAMING HELL PUT THAT THERE!)Headed up a ladder, and another ladder and another ladder…Found a mushroom guy, laughed and poked him with my sword, and was then immediately barreled over by a giant raccoon/cat/dog/monster hybrid, which knocked me off the cliff

and that's pretty much me, my progress has been a bit slow 😛

I thought that spoiler was just going to say

DYING. A LOT. and experiencing stockholm syndrome.

Well, if you apply the whole "Reading between the lines" thing they tried teaching us in school, i think that's the main theme 😛

The mushroom guys are hilarious until you find their big brothers.

They’re even more hilarious.

I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop on that whole thing.Was sitting there, panicking: "This is too easy. What's going on? What have I done? Will this action result in some NPC down the track hunting me down for my crimes against the forest? Does every one of these little cuties make my inevitable comeuppance that much harder?"

I just assumed they worked like in Mario and if i tried eating them i’d grow or get an extra life

They can kill you too, on the subject of said mushrooms 😛

It's just… there's something laughably absurd when you’re sitting there utterly harrowed from the experience of untold horrors from your nightmare visions having mutilated you and humbled you at every turn.

You’re in this state of perpetual edginess then all of a sudden you’re faced with a dumpy little cutie-pie whose most dangerous attack is falling over flat on his face as he waddles away from you in a panic.

You’re just standing there with a thousand-yard-stare, watching these adorable little dudes running around in terrified circles bumping into each other, wondering if these are just like… tendrils of hair on a giant earth-beast with the face of a human infant or a milllion screaming souls who is lurking beneath the surface waiting for you to take the bait so it can swallow you whole and dissolve you in acid over a thousand years.

Apparently the small one a children…INNOCENT CHILDREN…WON’T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN…Seriously, now i feel bad 😛I’m meant to be the good guy AND I JUST SPLIT UP AN INNOCENT FAMILY!

I didn't split them up. I sent them all to the same place. Together. (In death.)

Relevant: http://i.imgur.com/udQReBo.gif

The things my work puts money into while layoffs happen/being discussed.Coloured Telstra shirts with flipping hashtags on the back.They’re pasted all over the office too, I’m really tempted to print out pictures of an angry german, due to the hashtag being "#countmein", I’d put below "COUNT MEIN WHAT?!"

Count Mein? Is that some kind of Transylvanian Chow Mein?

Like Count Chocula? Maybe! 😛

I’m sooo close to finishing Pokemon Y – I can almost taste victory! I reached Pokemon Village last night and shortly I will tackle Victory Road. It's been a great trek so far but Pile-of-Shame you are going down this year hahar!

What's your team looking like?

I plan to reshuffle. At the moment it's Yveltal, Greninja, Pikachu, Lapras, Snorlax, and Pigeot. I want to put Blaziken back in there somewhere. They all vary between LV60 and LV75.

Man, I haven't played that game for ages (sadly :P). Z version should come out this year or next (hoping for next), so looking forward to that.

I always use new Pokemon when a new game comes out. My team was Chesnaught, Vivillon, Helioptile, Clawitzer, Aegislash and Noivern. Helioptile wreaked everything, everywhere. And Vivillon was amazing because it was Vivillon.

EDIT: Also my Galvantula/Vaporeon/Mega Mawile competitive team is really enjoyable to use 😀 Hopefully I can make more use of it in Z version.

We haven't had an amalgamated game since Platinum (2008). I’m thinking we may be in for X2 and Y2 perhaps.

Oh, I’m not predicting anything. It's just easier to say "Z" when we have no idea what we’re getting 😛

Hmm. Upon quick research however, I think you may be right about Z. My mistake.

(I hate the design of that guy :P)

I wouldn't recommend tasting Victory Road.

Ugh, alarm was meant to go off an hour and a half ago. I have absolutely no memory of it happening, nor me turning off.

Three and a half hours left to prep before everyone gets here. Panic mode engage 😛

What's going on?

Having friends over while I’ve got the house to myself.

May or may not include a number of characters I’ve mentioned on here in the past.

Strip down to mankini. Barry White over the soundsystem. Candles, hot bubble bath, bottle of bubbly. Ticketing system, so everyone can take a number.

Done.

My darling, Iiiiican't get enough of your love, baby

Ohhhhhhhh yeeeaaaaaaarrrrrrrhhhh

Oh man, this is going to be like The Bachelor, isn't it? All your love interests here! You handing out roses and whoring about!

At least you don't have to bother making your bed before everyone gets there.

Ouchhhh.

Your mother and nuns from school?

so. Games for Windows Live.been trying to find some info on what's gonna happen to GFWL titles when the service shuts down.

so far, the Arkham games are the only ones who have done anything about it.Namco Bandai are ‘exploring options’ for Dark Souls.Microsoft aren't gonna do anything, so Fable & their flight sims are dead.Capcom is only gonna patch Street Fighter & let all their other game die.Sega ‘has no plans’ to change anything, so Dawn of War 2 is buggered.

So… I’m a bit apprehensive about starting a Dark Souls thing. I mean, if it goes the route of Arkham, then all saves are gonna be wiped, or they might just let it die & focus on DS2?

Conclusion: I DONT KNOW.

Yeah, I think they are just gonna let it die and focus on DS2 which sucks. The game shouldn't end like that. D=

oh god i hope not… i mean they couldn't could they? i mean… i mean….*lip quiver*

Pretty much the main reason why I haven't got Dark Souls yet, otherwise I’d get it. I would very much not prefer many hours of hard work get wiped suddenly due to system changes.

BioShock 2 became Steamworks and existing owners of BioShock 2 on Steam got Minerva's Den DLC for free. It also got full controller support and achievements (which I think it didn't have before).

What! I want free DLC!

You’ve already got it!

Only a little related: I’m really sad about Dawn of War 2. To my mind, the series peaked with Dawn of War: Dark Crusade. Base-building, persistent army upgrades, commander experience, choice of territories to capture with their own benefits/disadvantages… all frickin’ awesome.

Then they turned Dawn of War 2 into this weird character-focused MOBA type affair, where the game wasn't about which units you were pumping out and placing wherever, but about how you micro’d the precious few units you had. More skirmish, more micro, less war, less epic.

And then they put out this information saying that Retribution will be Dawn of War 2's Dark Crusade, and I get all excited and hopeful, and it turns out to be exactly the same shit system, just pulling the strings in some grim marionette play with Dark Crusade's corpse; every good feature from Dark Crusade only implemented as a half-measure; like the illusion of choice in your incredibly linear ‘set piece’ focused missions, and all of the races converted into fucking microtransactions. *spits*Totally turned off the franchise. It's been eight years since the last decent Dawn of War game and I don't even care, no faith whatsoever that DoW3 won't be more of the same shit.

To me, sure, GFWL is toxic, but in the instance of DoW2 it was just a thin vomit smear for flavour in the overall turd sandwhich that was the rest of the game.

Wonder if Rockstar are going to do anything for their games that use it…

I have DS on PC, unplayed… and a GTA4 save that I don't wanna lose. FML.

I’ve lost my GTA IV save about 5 times now… This is why I have 200+ hours in GTA IV >_>

PC gaming truly is the superior glorious platform.

If you’ll excuse me I’ll be playing Dark Souls on my PS3 with zero worries about the future like the filthy peasant that I am.

But you’ll only have 720 pees and all that aliasing!

Better than the zero pees or aliasing that the PC will have.

i think the worst case scenario is that the online mode wont work.but hey, when sony / Namco shut down the servers, we’re all in the same boat.

Dark Souls is so popular right now and I imagine that DS2 will cause an upsurge in its popularity. Letting it die on the vine would be a really poor choice.

But remember, Dark Souls’ PC port is fucking terrible and they couldn't even get basic things working correctly without fans having to step in and fix it. I have no faith in them being able to remove & replace GFWL when they couldn't even get rendering resolutions and stuff correct in the first place.

If they do replace it I hope it becomes a Steamworks game. And I hope I can finish it before GFWL goes away.

Dawn of War 2 dumped GFWL on (I think) Retribution in favour of Steamworks, so it's fine.I didn't actually hate it, mostly cause I went in expecting a not-RTS. Plus, Last Stand was amazing fun.

Hmm. Going down – it just struck me as sexual innuendo. A bit below the belt so to speak.

Oh well, Pile-of-Shame you are still going down this year! XD

Don't call your girlfriend/boyfriend a pile of shame!

This week, Dark Angel's summers with The Boys From Brazil revealed, why we hat hats, and the most selfless things we’ve ever done.

Spoiler: They barely pass as being polite.

http://dankarlszeitgeist.podbean.com/2014/01/31/dan-karls-zeitgeist-s04e14-take-two/

Listen, Subscribe and tell your friends!!!

Farewell #Danuary. Hope it was everything you wanted it to be, man!

Much like it's originator, it talked a big game but then impotently disappeared.

It was perfect.

I don't want Fop, Goddamnit, I’m a Dapper Dan Man!

Oh Brother!

Also, I saw that film when it was released and enjoyed it – even if little bit kooky.

@rize, @sernobulus, @cakesmith and Aleph (because i can never spell your freaking handle)…(maybe @tigerion?) and anyone else interested….JC2MP Tonight? 😛

I’m totally up for some carnage to wind down!i can't stay up too late because i work again tomorrow, but i would be up a bit of a session!

Sounds good, we should really try and get a weekly JC2 shenanigans session happening.

I concur… i can see it being a friday night thing for some reason…Wind down from end of the week + alcohol + JC2MP = winning?

Fridays are usually bad for me. My work does Friday drinks so I don't usually get home until late.

Unless that's the reason you picked Friday 🙁

Oh… Saturday?

@saturday?

Does that mean you’re in? 😛

I…don't know. It might?

Oh! Oh, this isn't just a shout-out!

yeah, I can maybe get some time in before work tonight, maybe. I’m getting a new laptop soon enough so I’ll be eager to break that in. I mean, it's both my shitty internet AND my underperforming laptop that causes no end of troubles for me, but at least it’ll be nice to strike off one of those annoyances!

The more the merrier!!!!!!!

I can't do Saturday this week.

I would do @saturday though

Appropriate GIF.

Why do you hat me?Y U HAT FUN?

I thought Tuesday was the mulTAYplayer night! Nobody ever has anything on on Tuesday!

Good point, i guess i was just trying to re-integrate TAYbar 😛and instead of minecraft, it's explosions

Ah, TAYbar.

My one contribution to TAY.

An amazing contribution at that… I may only have participated twice but damn it all if i didn't have fun!

Were you there when this got linked? I know @rize was…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfRieg1p81o

@cakesmith,Bahahahaha yeeeep, but had complete forgotten… 😛

I remember it broke @anonymous_pessimist

@cakesmithYou mean the artist formerly known as AP? 😛yeah that was pretty great… LETS ALL GET DRUNK ON TS AGAIN!

EDIT – OH GOD the realisation of what a terrible social life i lead /o\

@mythamphetamine

THANK YOU! 😛

Not installed but I’ll see if I can get it done tonight for Saturday

I have no idea how it happened but I have a really bad 90s song stuck in my head. The one that goes "Ayayaya coco jungle ayaya." What was that song meant to be about anyway?

Coco Jambo – Mr. President.

Well I got those lyrics completely wrong. You’d think that after hearing it on repeat while spending an hour lining up at Dreamworld would make me remember it.

Enjoy it in its full glory!

I kind of want to make this for sidhttp://www.simplicity.com/p-11699-dog-clothes-in-three-sizess-m-l.aspx

Oh god that’d be hilarious for a TAY dog meat 😛

Tempted to go with the fairy one but I’d love to put a little Tux on him

That’d be awesome 😛a TAY Dog Dapper Meat or TDDM for short 😛

Manly. =P

Last reminder for this meat tomorrow night:

Just a reminder that there's a Brisbane meat on Saturday.

Dinner/drinks at Cyber City in The Valley most likely (I think @dkzeitgeist is making a reservation) with karaoke afterwards. Already have had a fair few people confirm. Just a reminder anyways!

@transientmind, @sernobulus, @beardymcmuttonchops, @popdart5, @virus__, @lambomann007, @sughly, @freezespreston, @jimu, @gutsoup, @welbot…

Also, @bdkiaf and @rocketman will be there! WOOOOO!

Not actually sure on what time the dinner is. Uh, Dan? XD

Shit was it tomorrow?

Yes.

I thought you said you had babysitters and all that? D:

I do. Even have a hotel room a few hundred metres away booked so I don't have to worry about getting home.

WHOOPS!!!

The Karaoke place doesn't open until late so I haven't booked it yet.

I’LL BOOK TODAY!!!

I’m booking for 15 but if it's more likely that we’ll only have 10 for karaoke I can book a cheaper room.

So far confirmed for singing is me, Salty, Hellscream, Berkid, DC, Krams, Ho Tross, Ryan M Chalker, Freeze, Mrs Freeze.

@Jimu @Gutsoup are you cool cats keen?

I am. well, Ill be there, cant sing though.

I already said this a week ago btw. i hat u 4eva now *cries*

I’ma try my best to make it, I have a house inspection on next week so I’ll be cleaning tired and crazy but it will be a nice break.

Oh, you’ll be there. You’ll be there. >:|

Cyber City, it’ll be like when i first met you and sughly except this time I know what you look like and your real names so i won't look like a fool when I go again.Last Time: Me: "I’m here to meet some people"Waiter dude: "ok, do you know their names?"me: "ummm no"Waiter guy: "Do you kno what they look like?"Me: "ummmm, no"Waiter guy: *looks very puzzled*Me: *runs away and calls jimu before re entering and approaching strangers*

Hahaha! I’m impressed you actually turned up that time. I know I wouldn't have. Even though I had strength in numbers with Sughly I was still nervous about meeting you. 😀

yeah, i felt pretty awkward and didn't think I left a very good first impression.

Was a great first impression! You didn't stab me!

Dinner at around 6:30 to 7ish you reckon?

Thanks Daaaaan! You’re awesome! 😀

Sounds like it, sweetie.

@Transientmind, I’m taking that as confirmation of you bringing those sweet pipes to Saturday Serenade 1 2014.

Noop, sorry. I mentioned before: I’ve reserved the prime-time parts of this weekend for hanging with my brothers (and quite possibly getting Mum into more gaming!). I’ll make a point of getting to the next available meat though.

Though preferably not a karaoke! I’m not a fan. It's not a deal-breaker in presence, I’ll happily turn up and drink-and-not-sing, but like with the whole ‘don't ask for credit’ deal, I’ll cheerfully offend the insistent. Probably best avoided. 🙂

Pease tell me you’re going to get your mum to try Dark Souls!

At the moment her highest/only-played Steam games are Bookworm Deluxe and Bejeweled 3. We might have a bit of a ways to go before Dark Souls. 🙂

(Edit: I’m actually hopeful for success with Portal, and Wolf Among Us.)

That’d make it even better! A mum-run of Dark Souls would be a youtube hit

Keeeeeen. They better have Butterfly by Crazy Town.

INSPIRED.I don't sing or karaoke… but if I did? That would make me feel better about doing it. 🙂

You’re my butterfly.

Sugar.

Baby.

I’m going to miss seeing Rocketman D:#LamboDoesn'tMeatOne of these days though…

You should meat! They might seem crazy, but in reality they’re only lunatics.

he did once. one gunt kept offerering him beer!

Wait… offering someone beer is a bad thing?

he was 17! 😮

Ohhhhhh. So like… nearly half my age. Literally. Gods.

It was a number of years ago, only the second ever meat(?)

He should be at least 20 now

I haven't been to a meat in aaaaages :'(I’m not trying to avoid you guys, I really want to see you all again, it's just that your meats are usually on at inconvenient times for me…

It's been like 13 months, though. Surely one would’ve been convenient. We’ve had lunch meats. Dinner meats, etc. Haha! Not trying to guilt you or any thing, but you gotsta make the effort is all. 😛

I went and got a real, non-internet based social life 😛 But mostly when I see them they’re on Friday nights, or weekdays when I’m busy, or too far away (Freeze meats), or I don't have enough warning before they’re on, plus I have a bunch of other various reasons/excuses 😛 (Plus I haven't been keeping track of TAY as much as I used to) I really appreciate you tagging me in all the meat posts though 🙂 I’ll make it to one, soon! If it's on a Saturday night, and probably at someone's house. (A lot easier to convince my parents to let me go that way…)

My post was more jerky than I intended. You’ve got your reasons and they make sense to me! 😀

Once I get my P plates and my own car I’ll come to almost every meat ;D

Yeah after all they’ve been given day passes, so they can't be all that bad..

What time are you guys meeting pre-dinner? Are you just gonna hang out somewhere for a while?

dunno, jus gun wingit

So Studio Ghibli are going to be collaborating with some other animation studio to do a TV anime. Which will be directed by Goro Miyazaki (Tales of Earthsea, From Up on Poppy Hill) and adapting Astrid Lindgren's book ‘Ronia the Robber's Daughter’.

Sounds good in every way except that it's apparently a ‘3D CG’ series. I hope that doesn't mean cel-shaded 3D models. A few series recently have done that and it looks varying degrees of fucking weird.

3D CG….. WHY!!!!*runs away crying*

Ni No Kuni captured the Ghibli look in three deeee!

That's a good point. Hmm.

I’m known for my good points.

And quickness don't forget!

And coming through. That too.

Like Superman through Lois Lane's womb.

#Mallrats

It didn't really IMO. It captured a Dragon Quest look. Main character is kind of Ghilbi-ish but honestly Ghibli had very little to do with that game beyond blessing it.

It wasn't bad, but I just prefer 2D animation usually.

A mix is good, like innocencehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_1PssU1a9U(terrible example, mostly 3D :P)

FUCK!That song STILL sends a chill down my spine!

So good!!

Here, better example:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNuL8cVxXMA

I really should make an attempt to watch that series again

If it's not hand-drawn backdrops, it's not Ghibli.

It's not though. It's a collaboration.

Oh yeah, true. Those hand-drawn pieces are so pretty but.

Collaboration with the guys that did The Sky Crawlers which had kind of bad CG from memory. Didn't mesh well with the characters.

They haven't been doing hand-drawn backgrounds since Howl's Moving Castle. It's all digital painting now, even at Ghibli.

Really? Surely they are digitally hand drawn though?

"Digital painting". So yes.

It's possible that the ‘3D CG’ element of it is something like how they animated the castle in Howl. It's a simple 3D model with 2D digitally painted art attached to each of the 3D model segments so the parts can all move independently and interact correctly but still look 2D. Vanillaware uses a similar approach in their 2D games.

Yeeeep.

I’ve been binge watching King of the Hill, it is a marvelous show.

That boy ain't right, I tell you what.

Dang it Bobbeh!

I binge watched 2 seasons of Bob's Burgers last weekend. That show is great!

I heard people say that if I liked Archer (which doesn't do justice to how I feel about that show) I’d really enjoy Bob's burgers.

…I couldn't get past the pilot episode. 😛

Thought I’d go grab Tomb Raider Definitive and disappointment at the centre I work in and a hundred phone calls the PS4 version is pretty much completely sold out every where.

They all seem happy to tell me they have an XBone version as if that helps me somehow.

Guess people are desperate for something to play on the PS4.

I was more annoyed with the artbook version, I don't like it how the artbook is incorporated into the cd case, they did something similar with the Uncharted 3 Special Edition I just don't like it for some reason =/

#bitchandmoan

Is that anything like Kingdom Hearts HD Remix's art book case? (it's an art book but the back has a slot for a CD). I think FFX/X-2 HD is going to have that too… lame…

That's basically it, its a hard cover book design where the art book it stabled into the inside spine and a cd mould is glued onto the hardcover, theirs also no slot for the inserts so you have to open it at a certain angle or the inserts fall all over the place.

Disgusting.

Yeah it's pretty terrible. Doc What preordered that, and when he saw what it was, turned right around and swapped it for a regular copy.

Your comments help cement the fact that I made the right decision in not buying a PS4.

Heh. That's like saying, "Man, everywhere is sold out of chocolate, I’m glad I only eat carob."

Can you really eat carob? It's more like being waterboarded with grit isn't it?

I bet you 10 bucks that Tweed Mall EB has plenty of copies. Since my mate said this morning from 9-12 he didn't even make enough to cover his wages!

K. Backyard's all set up, save for the fire pit. Need some help getting that out from under the mess.

Totally can't remember what else I needed to do, but I could sure go a cider right now. Also lunch, apparently. Thanks for your input, stomach.

Lots of protein, man.

#ThisJokeIsNotGettingOldOrRepetitive

I don't know what protein does or where to get it so I am just assuming it's funny every time!

hmmm how to say it…It makes all the "sailors show up on deck"

And makes your kidneys scream with delight

It powers your muscles, even that one.

I choked down a glass of that horrible cheap cider that I had in my fridge the other night. Made my head spin after a single glass 😛

Feels like such a waste to throw it out so they’ll probably just sit in my fridge forever.

Try use it for cooking?Even cheap alcohol can add a little something extra to stewed or slow cooked meats.

Or just drink it really fast responsibly.

Get out of here with your good suggestions!

i have the ultimate suggestion…. serve it to unwanted guests….

I tried to serve it to the Sydney TAYbies but they were too smart.

In an emergency, alcohol can be used to sterilise a wound.

Stab someone you don't like.

i believe its a sign… Steam will not let me buy Rust… i can buy anything else, but Rust.

You shall not buy?

tried to complete checkout 8 times… literally… oh well, its prob a good thing. short on cash at the mo, and i really really shouldnt be spending another $20!

How long has it been since you bought a game on steam? Maybe your game buying skills are getting a little…

out of practice

I found that way funnier than I should have.

I shouldn't have watched that PSA video at work, I can't stop laughing. I’m a bad person.Edit:…I get the dumbest gets

i watched it earlier today and yeah i concur that i’m a terrible person for liking it 😛

You know what's weird, seeing a guy you went to school with get blown in half…

it was funny though!

So I went and got a "dare" brand iced coffee. Except the logo say "drae" instead of dare. I’d show a photo if I knew how. I’m currently researching to see if this is some promotional stunt, a printing error, or a rival brand trying to confuse people.

Cameras take pretty good photos.

Promo stunt, they shuffle characters around. Not sure why.

They drae to be different.

It is, I saw one for "ared", they’re using their own advertising where it's worded/spelt wrong on purpose, an example from a billboard I’ve seen:"Whack is out of day"

Saw that this morning.

There's actually a line on the bottle which says something like, "For when your head's all messed up," the implication being that a heavy hit of iced coffee will get you back in order.

that's not good advertising, I would have looked at the mis spelled word and been like, well if they can't even get the label right what's the product like. I’d have missed the point I think.

I know I did a double-take when I saw it. Drae? What?Then I saw an identical bottle next to it with ‘rDae’. And it clicked for me. Ohhhhhhh.

What would make it really impressive is if the label changed to the correct spelling when the bottle was empty.

WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY.

It wouldn't be that hard. And hell, even though I don't drink that sludge, I’d buy a bottle and tip it down the drain just to see it happen once.

There's a Canadian beer (Coors Light, I think?) that has part of its logo change colour based on the temperature of the beer/can. It impressed me waaaay more than it should have.

"Oh wow, I gotta see that again!"

"I gotsa see that agin!"

"I… see dat.. again.."

"…"

Coors LIGHT 😛moar like:

"Oh wow, I gotta see that again!""Oh wow, I gotta see that again!""Oh wow, I gotta see that again!""Oh wow, I gotta see that again!""Oh wow, I gotta see that again!""Oh wow, I gotta see that again!""Oh wow, I gotta see that again!""Oh wow, I gotta see that again!""Oh wow, I gotta see that again!""Oh wow, I gotta see that again!""Oh wow, I gotta see that again!""Oh wow, I gotta see that again!"*6 hours later*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Carlton Cold also does this when it's at "optimal" temperature. It's now also a mid strength beer, though.

Tooheys New had it for a short time on the actual carton if i remember correctly… this was years ago though when i still worked in the bottleshop

Not the dumbest thing I’ve seen, my speakers are a brand called Genius, they’ve put the nameplate on upside down…

Hey, thanks for the kind words every one. You guys are so awesome!

Will repost this in some form elsewhere soon-ish.

Who’d you knock up? Tell us, tell us!

Edit: Ohhhhhhhhhhh right! @DC COMES THROUGH 😛

Seriously, though, you’re awesome. Your determination is inspiring! Thanks for posting that.

Second to last paragraph FOR THE WIN!

Speaking as a father myself, the experience far outweighs the doubts.

tl;dr😛Just kidding, you’re awesome man! good self-realisation!just remember we all love you!

I wanna brofist your post so hard the fistsplosion can be seen from space.

This guy speaks my drunken language!

You should be a writer.

Also, I clicked the link and saw the picture after I read the write-up. It reminds me of the many emotions of Spock for some strange reason.

Fascinating. *raises eyebrow*

Does this mean you’re ready for dating?

OMG DO WE GET TO PLAY TAY CUPID!!!!

I really have to sit on my hands for that. Not all advice is one-size-fits-all; you can't really use the same sales tactics to sell a car as you do for mortgage brokerage.

(Also I am occasionally prone to unacceptable outbursts. Such as when discussing planning a bachelor party for a mate. "Ohyeah, when are we doing that and what are we doing? We gonna get him laid?" *LOOKS OF HORROR FROM EVERYONE ELSE* "Hey, totally joking! Totally! …Mostly.")

So we’re not getting @dc laid?

Disappointment.

DC will be getting @dc laid. 🙂

Assuming that's a masturbation joke.

…Dammit!

Ah, I planned to write about my ill-fated experiences in online dating next week. XD

I just hope the kid's not a jerk.

Optimal amounts of stubble through from the 19th to the 24th, with most acceptable being either the 19th or the 22nd.

I’m rather partial to the 24th. XD

28th of January DC for me.

How you doin’ 😉

When is Games for Windows Live being dropped completely? I would like to get one last game of Section 8: Prejudice in before it goes away.

Not soon enough.

July 1st 2014

I skim-read that as when is Windows 8 being dropped. Which, y’know is even later. But still. Windows 9, ditching GFWL. Is Mirosoft… learning?

SKYNET!!

Played the Toukiden Demo, for a Monster Hunting game, it's a pretty good one, a little more action oriented than MH.

Which on that note, can we all agree that Monster Hunting is a genre? its at the point like how all FPS's after doom were called doom clones, it's annoying seeing people getting angry at "Monster Hunter Clones."

‘GTA-clones’ as a term seems to have fallen out of vogue. Not sure why.

Because they started doing it better than GTA 😛

The only real GTA clone was Saint's Row and it went batshit crazy enough that people didn't feel comfortable making the comparison anymore.

I think maybe the new phrase is ‘open world game’. I think that's cropping up more often now, in marketing hype.

Got replaced by "open world"

I really want to like Monster Hunter but the broken controls from 20 years ago that everyone insists on being a feature makes me never want to touch it again.

Proper targeting system please!

The camera shits me.

i used to think the controls were crap until i spent a bit more time with them.

Are they perfect? no, but they seriously do add to the game, you have to time your attacks carefully, and not just mash buttons. Using items is risky, and you can't pull of crazy combos like its a character action game.

i know i’m just adding to the people who insist its a feature, but it really is!

I just don't think the games for you.

you have to time your attacks carefully, and not just mash buttons. Using items is risky, and you can't pull of crazy combos like its a character action game.

So everything Dark Souls does? Except Dark Souls system isn't anywhere near as frustrating.

did you understand the dark souls controls straight away?

i know for certain it took me a while before i got a full grasp on them, its the same in MH.

If they added a target lock and a camera actually designed for a 3D space if probably have sunk several hundred hours into the game. It seems like something is really enjoy if it wasn't for that.

If they added a target lock i probably wouldn't use it, a core part of the game is targeting certain parts of the monsters body, if the target lock only locks onto the "centre" of the monster, then you wouldn't be able to target the tail or other parts properly, and if you could lock onto the different parts, that removes the entire challenge of the game. Also there are monsters that are meant to be kilometres long, having a lock on for them would be impossible.

The current version of "lock-on" they have now is that you can press a button to centre the camera onto the large monster you are hunting, which is perfect.

as for the camera, i don't have any troubles with it. the right stick works fine…

You’re just antsing me up so I’ll go play it again aren't you.

…It's working. ಠ_ಠ

I’ll never accept the camera though.

@freezespreston

Me, antsing you? no waaaaaaaay….

http://static2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120820020852/monsterhunter/images/c/cd/MH3G_Size_Chart.jpg

oh deary me, was that a link to the official size chart of all the monsters you fight in MH3U?

how clumsy of me 😉

(but for serious, i’m not trying to convert you, i’m just defending a game i’ve spent way too much time playing)

Goddamit! I’m buying MH3U tomorrow now! Seriously though, I have been meaning to pick it up and suddenly there's a price drop as of today. Hopefully my local EB Games have a cheap pre-owned copy waiting for me.

Except Dark Souls system isn't anywhere near as frustratingTo you, maybe 😛

"Monster Hunter's controls are broken" says the person who likes Dark Souls, which has the exact same control ideas. They’re not broken, they have an animation lock and you need to know what you’re doing because you can't cancel out or move around. It initially looks like a game you want to walk up to a monster and spam attack, but that's a good way to get killed.

I played it last night and was kind of iffy on it. It seems competent but the weapon controls are fucked, especially the spear and the bow. How the hell do they expect you to hold down X/Square and aim with the right stick? Hold the thing upside-down?

Only really liked the feel of the twin swords. Not sure I’ll bite at launch, I feel like I’m not going to spend enough time with it to get a lot out of the game.

i just tried out the bow, super boring, all you do is lock onto the monster and hold down square, you can never miss…

The sickle and chain was fun, launching into enemies is pretty cool. The game is a little bit more character action-y, which is pretty refreshing.

but i agree on your discomfort, i have no vita friends, so i wont have anyone to play it with, and i’ll assume that there’ll be not many people playing online. so it's a huge maybe at the moment.

Welp, just sent off a government submission.

ENJOY READING ABOUT MANUFACTURING, CHUMPS

I hope it somehow ends up on @shane's desk.

3pm and I haven't done shit today because everything wants to not work to the fullest extent that is possible. Today can go **** itself.

Mentality at my work when it happens:Who give's a fuck, it's friday*leans back*

I’ll brofist to that my friend.

Same here (still).

at least you have that amazing pub across the road 😛

I guess so, but I’ll still have to deal with it on Monday. WHich is why Mondays are usually so terrible too.

Agreed!At 10am, the idea was flagged that as part of my job I may need to go to China. Wooooo for a paid trip!At 4pm, I get told that "Extreme budgetry problems" mean I don't get to go to China, and that Higher Management is looking into whether my position is viable.

I’m technically crazy and alcohol doesn't suit me well, but sure as hell I’m getting pissed tonight.

Wthat. the. fuck. Best of luck dude, that's awkward as hell. :\

*Hugs man, Much feelings for you*

Someone got their messages mixed up, they’re probably thinking of sending your job to china

Agreements with this sentiment so much today… sick of fwits today…

Advertisement for guitar lessons I just stumbled across:

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Call or email for more information.

They’re setting our office up with video phones.

There is just… SO much material to work with, here.

At least you can keep your pants off for those important meetings. Just don't stand up.

I’m expecting to be placed in the phone queue due to popular demand. Maybe get a fee-for-service increase on our management fee.

Fun comments from coworkers already: "This is a terrible idea. I’m pretty confident callers are totally going to be offended by the nervous tic I have of constantly flipping off my phone when talking to idiots."

Haha, there must be many of them – we have one at our work! She also has a habit of slamming down the handset to end any unpleasant conversations. Or 95% of all calls.

QLD People!

Tomorrow night is all booked.

Dinner at Cyber City in Fortitude Valley from 6:30pm. The booking is under Dan. There's gonna be Chinese New Year celebrations so, you know, I hope you’re not afraid of dragons. The restaurant is BYO and there's a bottle-o within walking distance. It's one bill per table so bring cash, cash, money.

Karaoke is booked for 10pm at Music City in the City. It's a short walk/bus/taxi. Again, bring cash for this as it's cash only. The booking is for 3 hours and this place is also BYO.

Distribute this communique @dc

@sughly, @freezespreston, @strange, @transientmind, @popdart5, @sernobulus, @virus__, @lambomann007, @beardymcmuttonchops, @welbot, @rocketman, @bdkiaf, @jimu, @gutsoup

Thanks Dan, you’re a gentleman AND a scholar!

Also, worth noting for north side people that there's track works on this weekend with substitute buses and the like. Plan accordingly. It’ll be fuuuuuun (once we get there) and if you’re on my line we can all bus it home together afterwards.

BAM!

MARGERA!

But the dirt's still there…

nINJA Turtles movie:http://comicsalliance.com/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-michael-bay-film-images/

Holy hell are they ugly!

Jimu you need to go back two pages to my page get. They look like GOOMBAS!

I never go through TAY anymore, too much work.

Apologies if old info

I honestly don't see any issue with those designs.

Yeah, no. Not so bad.

It's some of the concepts Ive heard.

Still, when You say TMNT I think:http://watchcartoononline.com/thumbs/Teenage-Mutant-Ninja-Turtles-Episode-181-The-New-Mutation.jpg

Orhttp://www.consoleclassix.com/info_img/Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles_IV_Turtles_in_Time_snes_ScreenShot2.jpg

Hipster Donatello! It's like bad fanfic.As I stated before, I refuse to call this a TMNT movie. I still call it TAINT, orTeenage Alien Invader New Turtles.

Cap Am 2, I am keeeen:http://comicsalliance.com/captain-america-the-winter-soldier-photos-posters-evans-johansson-jackson-marvel/

Scarlett Johansson is already one of the most attractive women on the planet without the use of photoshop. Why they felt the need to photoshop the crap out of her for that poster I’ll never know.

Normally I’d be with you, but even though I find her Uber attractive, she's always been an odd choice for Black Widow to me. She should have sharper features and be less plump.And hey, I like a plump lady, but I have an image in my head of what she looks like and it aint that.

If she were, I dunno..Ms Marvel before she became Captain Marvel.

She looks kind of top-heavy as well. Huge shoulders. Pretty sure she's more evenly proportioned than that in reality.

Dark Souls – The Diary Journal of SkailorusI beat the armored boar. I got him down to very low health, but got trapped between him and a wall. I took a chance, and rolled the stick in a random direction to dodge. I dodged through the precious few pixels of freedom. I moved away from him, and he turned to face me. Anticipating a charge attack, I rolled away. However, I rolled too soon, and the boar was able to change the direction of his charge. He killed me and my corpse went flying. I landed by the fire. I was already dead, but the boar attacked my corpse, possibly to spite me. Since my carcass was so close to the fire, the boar caught aflame. The "YOU DIED" text was fading as I watched the boar burn to death. I shouted "YES!" at the top of my lungs. I have Stockholm Syndrome now.

You can easily cheese that boar without swinging a weapon. The alluring skull up above him. From where you pick it up toss one down into the fire below and it will commit suicide in the flames going for it.

Actually no. It's not cheese. It's right there set up for it.

I had to boost my dex to use a spear I found so I could thrust it into his arse because it was the only unarmoured part of him, I didn't know about the fire until way later. It was glaringly obvious in retrospect. I felt a dick, that made me happier

We all have our ways of dealing with it…

Huh… I had no idea about that

Cool 😀

No… nononononono! The freaking boss respawned. Since I was already dead when he burnt to death, I guess it didn't count. I have already screamed into a pillow. Are there any stress relief things I should be doing?

Well, I just returned from a killing spree in Saints Row the Third. I feel a little better.

Just murder the pig again. 🙂 THIS time, the easy way. Or, y’know. Do what I did… let him chase you back to the gate, at which point he turns around and ignores you as you slap him upside the rump. Run away when he turns around… repeat.

That's exactly what I did.

Imagine the ham steaks you’ll make on the nearby fire

Don't engage him. Take lure the closest guy on the steps to you, take him out. Go into the room and immediately head to the small closed-in area on the right, where there's a knight with a spear. Quickly take him out, then up the stairs. Avoid the dude at the top with a spear and rush the two crossbow guys and take them quickly, then come back for the spearfucker. At that point the remaining dude (sword knight) will have come down and around and will rush up the stairs to the upper level. Take him out. The boar can't get up the stairs so it’ll be downstairs looking at you. Walk over to the spot where the crossbow knights were, pull out a bow and shoot arrows into the rear of the pig's back where he's less armored, you should have a good angle. He won't be able to touch you from there and it's less tricky than luring him into a fire.

From a friend of mine who works at the ABC.

Yeah he hates us. Him and newman. Think we’re a waste of money. Shut down abc news would be a real loss, but shut down abc kids and we’ll have a mass riots and politician executions in the streets.

Hey Freeze, completely unrelated, is it easy to change the colour of synthetic shoes

Depends what you mean by synthetic. What sort of material is it?

Bottom of the shoe, so rubber.

Not very easy at all. Rubber doesn't hold new colour very well, although it is possible to just replace the sole completely with a new one.

So for the bottom of these shoes?http://www.shoeshed.com.au/womens-shoes/boots-flat/13437-woodstock.htmlI need it to be red at the bottom

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VIBRAM-RUBBER-BOOT-SOLES-REPLACEMENT-SET-ROCCIA-183005-New-/281234682136

Is there a darker red? And how do I replace it?

@scree I’m surprised I found those to be honest. As for changing the soles it's not really something you can do easily with the proper machinery or knowledge. Options are to take it somewhere down there or if postage isn't a problem I’d be happy to do them for you.

@freezesprestonThanks. I will check a few places around. The reason I needed it a darker red is it needs to match my cosplay

Hey Freeze, do you have any experience with these products?http://www.turtlefeathers.net/text/angelus/paint.html

Are those exact shoes essential? Goth shops might have something pretty similar and tend to be a bit more adventurous with colours, red and black being a relatively common combination

They’d also be about $300 at a goth shop.

I have to modify it anyway. So the cheaper the boots the better.However, I have just found synthetic leather paint. I will still check things out and find out what is the most viable option

@freezespreston depends where you go, one of my friends tends to buy good gothy shoes relatively cheap, I can't remember the name of the shop she uses though. I’ll ask if I see her online tonight

Probably for the best @scree, I just found a link she sent me in my email (it was a place called berserk clothing incidentally) and they were in the region of $120-150 for something comparable looking and didn't have any red soled ones anyway

OMG, I have a friend who works at the ABC. I wonder if they know each other and are possibly friends? 😛

I have a brother who works at channel 9!

They probably don't know each other

The ABC-bashing pisses me off no end. What the fuck is this, China? North Korea? These fuckwits talk about supporting your country, which is precisely why the best thing you CAN do for your country is call out anyone who does something to damage it. Hint to these politicians: YOU are not AUSTRALIA. ‘Australia’ is not its government, or even its military. Those are PARTS of Australia. An attack on how they do things is DEFENSE of Australia from those parts which aren't working right. No more, no less.…Fuckers.

*grumps*

They cut budgets to the ABC every chance they get and then complain because they don't make enough local content and screen so much BBC stuff. It's like kicking someone in the teeth every day and then when they stop smiling, demanding to know why

ABC is and always has been a core part of the country in many ways. Sure they’ve had their ups and downs, but they’re the only station putting anything decent on tv these days. 80% of my viewing is usually abc or sbs. Imagine if rage never came on tv again! Fuck that!

Honestly I’d be just as pissed at a national leader telling ANY media organization, ‘if you can't say something nice…’ It really does reek of North Korean style propaganda.

As a PM, if you’re concerned about how something will look when exposed to the light of day, then maybe don't fucking do it, or have the BALLS to own what you’ve done if it was for a good reason which seems harsh – if you can't even do that, then your reasons were clearly shitty and you don't deserve power. The PM of all people should be the FIRST to champion honest and open examination of anything hinting at controversy. If he – and in this case he obviously does – feels that the reporting is sensationalizing facts which may not even be true and come from very dubious sources (which face it – we’ve all seen A Current Affair), then THAT is exactly how you put it, not hyperbole about the media always going in to bat for anyone but home.

Exposing corruption and wrong-doing IS batting for home.

But yeah, Rage is a fucking national treasure. I can't count the number of times I’ve woken up in a strange place after an awesome night to the sound of Rage.

Realistically I suspect they’re playing the long game much like the conservatives in England. They want to outright cut it but it's clearly something the public would rebel against so they slash budgets, chip steadily away at the quality of their output and give the appropriate supportive soundbytes to their commercial media friends so they can continue to slam the competition. Keep eroding it bit by bit until it becomes a load of shit and the public won't mind if you cut it because all they show is that crap thing of one guy sitting in a cardboard box showing you all the things you can do with one piece of broken lego and one piece of duplo anyway

Yeah, they can't kill the ABC right now. Too popular. Got to undermine them, destroy their credibility and so on by chipping them away. I doubt you could do it in a single term. Probably not even with two. But if, god help us, we get three terms of Tony, he could probably destroy them enough to make cutting them completely a viable thing.

And if he's still around as PM then, the country's going to be so fucked that the lack of the ABC will be the least of our worries.

Well if we have 3 terms of abbot we’ll just be America jr and will all have guns…

Is there some scandal I should know about?

PM got pissed at ABC for having the gall to report on the whole ‘wire-tapping the Indonesian Prime Minister’ thing, and when the ABC reported that intercepted refugees were accusing the ADF of abusing them, rather than saying, "Whatever, those refugees are full of it," the PM instead decided to say, "The ABC is shit and hates Australia; if it loved Australia like we do, it wouldn't ever report on things that make us look bad."

Edit for specifics: The allegations of ‘abuse’ from the ADF ranged from forcing refugees to burn their hands on a hot engine, to swearing at them. Only one of those is believable, but that's not the point. The point is, the whole ‘burning’ abuse was accused. But the PM thinks that because it's so unbelievable, the accusation shouldn't have even been reported in the first place. Which is so not the point of the press – it's not their job to go and verify. That's a bonus if they can, but in the absence of that, it's their job to tell everyone what people are saying, as well. If Obama started running around the white-house claiming to be an alien, the news story isn't about whether he is or is not in fact extra-terrestrial. The story is what he is saying.

Bonus edit feature: My opinion on the ‘burning’ thing is that it's entirely possible a refugee (likely crew) might have burned their hands on their boat's engine, and then be looking to blame ADF personnel for it happening. Whether they did it because they were under instruction to shut the engine down and that couldn't be done without touching it? Who knows. Weird shit can happen when you try to convince people to do things with guns in the mix and not all speaking the same language.

Wow, I am really out of the loop with the news lately, I didn't even hear about the wiretapping thing. But seriously, "…if it loved Australia like we do, it wouldn't ever report on things that make us look bad." I have got to check that out. Even Abbott isn't stupid enough to say something like that. That sounds like something a governor from Louisiana would say.

Well, I just read the reports. What the hell, Abbott? It's the ABC's job to criticise the government. They are there to report news, not protect Australian interests. I got more angry at this than I probably should have. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

Well, I was paraphrasing, but also pretty damn close.

Edit: When it comes to election-type issues, I don't blame the current incumbents for the wire-tapping thing. Either side, EVERYONE was doing it. Everyone. Abbott just happened to be holding the bag when the music stopped.

Urgh, I just want this week to be over already! Such a horrible, horrible week.

So, I spent today feeling tired.I had four Weet-Bix for breakfast, a pie for lunch, and spag bol for dinner.Then I slept at 6:30pm and I just woke up fifteen minutes ago.Now I don't feel tired.Why am I an evening person?

Because mornings are for chumps!

@scree I’ve used the Angelus paints before. Never that Walk On stuff which looks like what you’d need.

Is it expensive?

$10-20.

Including shipping?

@aliasalphaYeah, goth shoes are ridiculously expensive. Do you know Rwby? I am cosplaying a character from that and will need to modify it quite a bit.

I love how the obstacle seems to be getting boots with red soles rather than a gigantic 50 calibre sniper/scythe

=P Well, you can make the scythe, however, due to Pax's prop length restrictions, I can't make the scythe in it's extended form. I will make it in it's compact form. Also, I have made props before and it's not as hard as it seems.

I paid some more money off my PS4. The girl at the checkout asked me if I wanted to preorder any games and suggested Titanfall and The Elder Scrolls Online. I just said I wanted to pay off my PS4 before I think about getting games.

…Titanfall? Was this a dedicated games shop, electronic shop, or place like Big W?If it's the first one, there's no excuse, she should be educated on games coming to consoles.

"Do you want to preorder Titanfall? I don't give a shit if you can use it or not, all I know is it gets me like triple the points."

My preorder is at EB. Not really sure if she's much of a gamer. I must admit it took me a couple of seconds to click that Titanfall is XBox 360/One/PC only. The guys at my local EB seem to know games pretty well though.

There's probably a flyer on her desk-thing saying Titanfall is a Microsoft exclusive. Or she should ahve gotten an email or something.

"Yes, I would like to preorder Titanfall for PS4 :("

Decided to fire up Demon's Souls, and I’m enjoying it, despite not having played it for at least a year.

With the demise of GFWL in 6 months does anybody know if you can get a list of games that require it?Thinking I should get around to playing them if I haven't if that will be the only chance I get without random dodgy hacks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Games_for_Windows_%E2%80%93_Live_titles

Thanks f4ctionWell it looks like the damage isBulletstormBattlestations PacificDark soulsDead rising 2Flatout: Ultimate carnageFuelGTA IVGTA Episodes liberty cityIron BrigadeRed Faction: GuerrillaWH 40k: DOWII + Chaos rising

So I played about 80 minutes of the demo for King's Bounty – Armoured Princess. It was all right. I could see the whole mechanic of building an army being quite addictive. However, I have decided that hex-based combat just isn't for me. Be that as it may, if I did like that style of combat, I could see myself becoming engrossed in this game. Alas.I must say, the demo is quite generous. I played for 80 minutes and probably saw about 20% of the content. The main menu music really struck me, as it is quite good. For some reason I can't find the track anywhere on YouTube, so I can't link it.

So I watched Predator the other day. For some reason, I expected the movie to be a tense, survival horror classic, and what I got was the schlockiest movie I had ever seen. It was a masterpiece.-The scene where they start firing randomly at nothing for about 20 seconds -somehow without having to reload- was beautiful.-The invasion of the rebel camp was pretty over-the-top. It's impressive how many explosions they managed to fit into one scene. Michael Bay would be proud.-It's remarkable how one-dimensional the cast was. I didn't know such a feat was possible within the realm of cinema, but by golly, they pulled it off with flying colours.-I also found the scene where Arnie shoots an arrow through a tree trunk to be quite a superb display of open contempt for the laws of nature.-Thermal imaging fooled by mud? I don't even need to mock the concept. It mocks itself.

KILL BILL!!!!On another note, was The Fifth Element on your list of movies to watch?

No. I received a bunch of suggestions for my list, but I rejected most of them, as I didn't want the list to expand. I made an exception for Clerks. (Which I haven't watched yet) Here is the current list:

Phlanispo's List of Movies He Has Not Seen Because He Is a Young Bastard

-Castaway-Gattaca-Matrix Trilogy-Casablanca-Citizen Kane-Scarface-The Godfather-The Shawshank Redemption-Fight Club-Pulp Fiction-2001: A Space Odyssey-Die Hard-Alien-Reservoir Dogs-The Sixth Sense (Even though I know the ending)-A Clockwork Orange-Hard Boiled-Eyes Wide Shut-Predator-Kill Bill-Robocop (Original)-The Goonies-Crocodile Dundee-Ghostbusters-The Princess Bride-Spaceballs-Revenge of the Nerds-Lethal Weapon-Mad Max-Terminator 1-Top Gun-Schindler's List-The Big Lebowski-The Truman Show-Saving Private Ryan

I plan to watch Schindler's List and Clerks on the weekend.Sadly, I will probably not be able to knock off Kill Bill from the list, as it is an R18 movie. Even if I were to get someone to rent it for me, I would have moral issues with watching it, even though I know I am mature enough to watch it.Basically, as a kid, I had an irrational fear that I would be imprisoned (or at least reprimanded) if I watched or played a piece of media outside of my age range. Although my parents probably instilled the fear, they later regretted it. Whenever they wanted to show me a movie that was out of the age rating, I would refuse to watch it. Hell I remember when my dad bought me an Xbox 360, and I wouldn't play two of the games that came with it. (Shadowrun and Halo ODST) I remember playing the tutorial mission for Shadowrun. I was having quite a bit of fun learning how to operate the analogue sticks and using the various magic powers. But I stopped playing a few minutes in. My conscience said "Hey, I know you are having fun, but you aren't allowed to have fun. You are too young, and this game will warp your mind with it's violence." Yes there was a point when I believed the incoherent ramblings of pundits on television, I was that gullible.I remember the situation with Rayman for PS1 when I was about 7. Since almost all of my PlayStation 1 games were copied discs, (I had a family friend that would give me copies of his kid's games) very few of my games had a legitimate game case.I saw the Rayman logo had a registered trademark next to it. I mistook the registered trademark for an age rating, and refused to play it until my mother explained what it meant.

tl:dr I had an irrational fear as a child, and some elements of that fear remain, although it has mostly been replaced by feelings of guilt. I am aware that this guilt is irrational, although that does little to help.

I can't believe I spent 45 minutes writing a response to a two line comment. I was planning to go to bed early. That won't happen anymore.

Yeah, I was in two minds about recommending Kill Bill to a juvie in the first place, haha! I’d say just watch Kill Bill volume 2 then, since it's only MA15+, but you can't watch the second without seeing the first one first. It's a shame, they’re great movies 🙁

It's only R18+ because the violence is extremely stylised. It's all dodgy as hell (in the best way possible), but very violent none the less.

Well, when you’re 18 you need to watch those movies ASAP! 😀Or if / when you hit your rebellious phase you should watch them 😉 There's nothing like watching an R18+ movie when you’re under 18 to really stick it to the man 😉

You should add The Day The Earth Stood Still to the list. Also The War Of The Worlds, the REAL one from 1953, not that piece of shit modern thing starring that other piece of shit stuck to a piece of wood.

Also for pure history, Georges Méliès "A Trip To The Moon", it was pretty much the first film to do everything, sci-fi, special effects, narrative of a sort

was The Fifth Element on your list?NoI’m sorry i…. i don't even…but..*HEAD EXPLODES*

I know this might not help your morals, but there's this website called common sense media where parents and teens can give an age rating for a game or movie.http://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/kill-bill-vol-1That's the link for Kill Bill. It averages what parents say into a digit, and most parents say you should be 15 before you watch it. You can see what made them go to that age as well.

GET TO THE CHOPPA!

Well I’ve finished Batman Arkham Origins this month and now I can add Borderlands to that as well. Now to get through the DLC and then Borderlands 2 to make sense of the story

Well I haven't been able to sleep since about 4am. Not sure if I’ll be meating tonight. I’m dead tired.

DARK SOULS TWO

Countdown – 38 days to go

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.604732142933167.1073741843.119869331419453&type=1

I need to stop looking at DS2 info online because everything I read makes me more worried they’re going to fuck it up.

Fast Travel is enabled from the start. So you can just flit about and not have to learn the interconnections between the zones or anything. Invasions while hollow. Some super hard random mob that pops up randomly and rapes you unexpectedly. Losing health when you die. Non-optional voice chat. I feel like they don't get it.

InvasionsThe invasion system seems better this time around. The combination of Soul Level and time played prevents gankers from spamming you. Invasions are one of the core concepts, and ignoring it completely by staying hollow in DaS kinda takes away from the thrill and anticipation. The only problem in DaS invasions is the gankers, but even then they are still polite about it (bow before fight, bow after they kill you. I even got an apology message from one the other day!)

TravellingWith fast travel, just because it's there doesn't mean you have to use it also. I avoid fast travelling in any open world game, even games like Skyrim. I’d rather walk from bonfire to bonfire, just for the extra drops and souls, and purely for exploration. Saying that the early inclusion of fast travel sounds useful, as given the nature of the Souls games, if I find myself in a tough spot I could travel back to an easier spot immediately for a bit of levelling.

I’m not even fussed about the health loss aspect to be honest, it just adds to the challenge! 😀If anything, it also sounds like a way to encourage coop, and of course I’m sure the health drops for dying won't be permanent. Speaking of coop, just because voice chat is there doesn't mean it has to be used. I think you’ll find many of the hardcore players won't be using it, while many of the new players who need help / want to understand the game more will.

At the end of the day though, if you’re not 100% sold on the game, you can do what people used to do in the late 90s – early 2000s and rent it to try it out before you buy it :\ You don't have to own the game to play it after all.

I’m personally stoked for it though (although nowhere near as stoked as @shane seems to be :\), I haven't heard any news that I view as bad or damaging to the series. The only thing a little "eh" to me is that it's not (currently) on next-gen, but that's a non-issue.

Edit: SORRY SORRY SORRY!!! I forgot about media blackouts! I’m not used to talking to other gamers!!! I’M SORRY!!! :'(

Re: Invasions, maybe they’re a ‘core part of the game’ for you, but they’re not for me and I don't want them to be.

EDIT: And while you might get an apology message from a ganker now, I am willing to bet that when some dickhole invades your game and kills you when you’re desperately trying to get back to a boss to recover your souls etc. that it won't be polite anything. It’ll be racial slurs and commentary on your sexuality and how awful you are at the game and how you should go kill yourself etc. over voice chat. That's how voice chat works.

Hell is other people.

You sound very scorned…

I’ve played enough games online to know how it works.

EDIT: Also you should be happy I’m not excited about it, because everything I actually get excited for turns out to be shit.

Could you perhaps get excited about your negative impressions about the changes to the game? Then they’d be shit because the game itself would be great? Try some reverse psychology on reality itself.

I’ve played the beta a couple of times now (when I remembered to check for the active times) and it really doesn't seem to be that bad. A lot of improvements. Even stuff I didn't think would be. It still feels like a Souls game.

Remember there are huge differences in Demons and Dark Souls, some which grated at first. I almost gave up completely on Dark the first time I played it thinking they screwed it all up.

Fast travel. The fast travel doesn't mean the shortcuts are useless provided the bonfires are spaces out as intelligently as DS1. You still need to reach a bonfire to activate it and not all bonfires can be travelled to.

The one thing From are fantastic at is balance and design and I have faith that they can pull off the changes.

Edit: Except the voice chat. Dumb idea pandering to the idiots who want to be able to shout abuse at people or incapable of reading. Fuck off.

From are not that good a developer, they just happened to hit on something that worked with Demon's Souls and Dark Souls. Armored Core they ran into the ground, Chromehounds was interesting but had no staying power and Tenchu and Enchanted Arms were hot stinking garbage. From are very good at coming up with interesting ideas and then executing them really badly or making sequels that fuck it all up.

Dark Souls II is a different core staff to the first two games and all they seem to be focused on is making it harder for the sake of it. I’m worried they’re under external pressure from Namco Bandai to annualize or bi-annualize the series as a franchise and will basically fuck everything up because they don't get it.

If it turns out okay then that's great. I don't think it will though.

I’m assuming until I hear otherwise that you won't be able to fast-travel to a bonfire you haven't unlocked yet by lighting it

Maybe they’ll only let you do it while Human? That’d actually work as a bonus.

Very few of the announced changes seem like improvements to me, either.

I’ll probably just play it offline.

The fast travel thing bothers me – one of the biggest reasons DaS got easy After Anor Londo was the fast travel so having it enabled from the start? I really hope they balance it out somehow.But voice chat? Really? That goes totally against what Souls is all about imo

uuuuurgh! working weekends suuuck…Started at 8, all checks done by 8:15… 7 hours and 45 minutes to go \o/*head desk*

I love the feeling when I complete a game – I should do it more often! Pokemon Y is my first game of 2014 finished! \o/

Hall of Fame party: Yveltal LV65, Blaziken LV83, Greninja LV70, Snorlax LV62, Pikachu LV62 and Pidgeot LV69.

Well I guess I haven't really finished, there's so much more to do.

Mewtwo get! And without a Masterball, too! Foul Play by Yveltal, followed by four Ultra Balls and that was that. Quite an underwhelming battle really. Now I’m off to the Terminus Cave..

Excite!

Zygarde get! I’m on a role with a Masterball to spare! Hmm now I really don't know what to do next.

They’re good and all but they ain't no Charizard.

They’re still all better than McLoser Patheticpants Blastoise.

Blastoise is the best. And he would beat your charizard anyday. Water beats Fire.

Now I don't know what to play…I was playing Demon's Souls, but now I’m after something else instead…

DARK SOULS \o/

Don't have it.

GET IT.>:(

Don't wanna. 🙁

>:(

>:(

Okay so Techie and I went to kingpin. They’re pretty happy to please.I need to start finding out who is coming and what they would prefer to do.

Poo poo to this weekend. Except for Might and Magic X.. that bits ok! Everyone's at the meat cept me 🙁

I’m not at meat! Was hanging with my bros. (And no, Mum ended up not gaming.)

ahhh well almost everyone then! 😉

I wasn't at the meat either! 😛

haha yeah well I meant people who were in the country 😉

So much cleaning up to do.

But all I wanna do right now is sleep.

Me too…

They wore you out, huh?

Completely drained 😛

Ugh… I can barely stay awake…Also, found something good on twitter:https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BfJpIWrCcAAhMwa.jpg

You guys can laugh at the tiny clickbait articles on kotaku, but this is real journalism:http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/01/this-is-the-sticker-that-should-really-be-on-your-new-computer/It must have taken them so long to write that.

The attribution is 250% of the size of the entire article. I think we have a new winner

JERNULLIZAM!!!Am I right?

well you wrote more characters then than the writer of that article did…

By getting us to click the link, you just let Kotaku make more money off that.

RHCP Live at Slane Castle is fucking amazing.And there's still three songs left. 😀EDIT: That's it! Fantastic DVD! \o/

Tried to watch Clerks, and it stops 30 minutes in due to a DVD error. Damn shame. I really wanted to know more about the moral ambiguity of destroying the Death Star. It's a small wonder Video Ezy is going broke. Sorry, @shane.

Le sigh.

The first public footage of Doc's next TAYfilm – Campbeltown Stars: C*nts – is available now

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbzRO28swGg&feature=youtu.be

Marvel at (or ridicule :-P) my role as the chief 🙂

This is a production diary with a teaser trailer at the end so there are no spoilers.

Also, remember that anyone and everyone can make something for TAYfilm 2014

Let it be known that @dc's rendition of A Whole New World left not a dry eye in the entire room.

@dc = Dan Crooner

@dc promising @bdkiaf the world.

http://youtu.be/rLsSb_Gmum0

Spoilers: Boys can sing.

AAAAAHHHHHH PORTRAIT ORIENTATION! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!!

Kill Youtube's lack of a portrait player with fire >:[

No, portrait is evil to it's core! It's like the freakish offspring of hitler and centrelink's phone system

It's not evil it's misunderstood 😛

Holy shit.Woah dude.

That's really impressive.

Karaoke do Disney songs now?! Any wonder @dc had fun last night!

Actually, I asked the place we’re going to if they do disney songs.

Do they? Ash and I would be all over that 😀

They’re finding out for me.If not the back up is for me to bring in my 360 or something. Unless someone has the disney songs on ps2

@dc fucking nailed it. Brilliant.

Dark Souls:

Blighttown is a horrible place. Spent far too long there, roaming the toxic swamps and stuff. Beat Quelaag first go though. 20 HP left. Somehow because I was in so close, her final sword swing that should have killed me sailed over and I got the final hit in. \o/

Kind of disappointed I didn't pick the Old Witch's Ring so I could talk to Quelaag's sister. I think I can get another one via trading with the crow thing in the Asylum? Not sure where to get the item I use for that though.

There's a bit of Blighttown I missed which I will probably have to re-explore to get the Iaito. But it took me about seven goes to get out of the damned place, kept fucking up and being sent back down to the swamp bonfire.

Also didn't help that upon returning to the Firelink Shrine the bonfire was out thanks to that dude in @Puppylicks cosplay. Because of that I managed to completely fuck up, fall to my death and drop 11k souls and get banished back to Blighttown again. Then die trying to leave again.

But I got out and had a couple of goes at Sen's Fortress but the mobs in there seem pretty difficult. Not sure if I should be heading there yet. At this point I think the only places viable to me are to try and clear Sen's or to have a crack at trying to beat Sif. I suspect I’m not ready for Sif yet but might need to do some grinding somewhere before heading into Sen's Fortress again.

What's good gear for a dex-based character anyway? I’m currently using a Balder Side Sword, upgraded to +7, but happy to go hunting for other gear if there's something in range.

Just inside of Sen's fortress is a Scythe (relatively good for DEX builds) although you’ll have to either run past or kill a Titanite demon to get to it. Otherwise back at Firelink shrine there is a Winged Spear in the graveyard section near the first large skeleton. These are pretty good for DEX builds, but I don't know how they compare to a Balder Side Sword to be honest :\

You’re in luck – the PERFECT grinding spot is coming up. If you have 20k souls to spare, you can buy the crest from the smith-dude next to Sen's fortress. Go down through his basement into plant-town. There's a door you can open there, which is full of human dudes who give thousands of souls each.

Also, to make things easier…There's an illusory wall to the left of the door you open with a crest. Smack that stone wall to pop it, and there's a bonfire there. PERFECT for soul-farming. Investing in that crest is very worth it.

Yeah, already know where that bonfire is as I used it when clearing the Moonlight Butterfly.

It’ll take me a long time to save 20k souls though.

I think I used to be able to raise something a few thousand or so per circuit if you do a jogging loop around the parish. Exit from the smith's bonfire, kill the archer+2xshields, go left across the dodgy bridge to creep up and backstab the balder knight, kill spear guy, go up stairs and kill other spear guy, turn around and creep around the corner to backstab another balder knight, cross over the nearby arch and leap down on top of the 2x crossbows, kill spear, the shield who comes up the stairs, go down the stair to kill spear and another two shields… run up the large steps to the cathedral to kill the three balder knights inside, then up the belltower stairs for the balder knight and hojillion pink dudes, then back outside to the bonfire, circuit completed.

A couple minutes, some good practice with mechanics, and a few thousand souls… repeat a few times, crest gained, then you’re in the woods with tasty humans.

Alternatively, go human, put your summon sign down at the bonfire in the sewers, farm some slimes until your summoned, then when you’re summoned, help the other player kill the Gaping Dragon for around 17,000 souls per run, plus 1 humanity every time you kill the Gaping Dragon.

Of course this assumes they don't die to the boss.

Also I’d rather never have to see the gaping dragon again. That thing is fucking horrifying.

Well yeah, but there's usually 3 of you fighting it, so the win rate (I found) is relatively high. It's a lot less horrifying each time you face it too, haha!

And even if they die you’ve still made around 5,000 souls just from the trek to it.

It is the stuff of nightmares. But, much like ANY of the scary creatures in Dark Souls, I found that once I stopped being scared of it, I was able to tackle it better. (Seriously, I was intimidated by Balder knights when I first saw them. I blame my run-in with that OP black knight down in the burg.) It really is the most laughably simple of ALL the bosses if you are patient enough to hit it a couple times, run very far away, then wait for it to do its charge.

I beat the Gaping Dragon on my second attempt at it, only because I got stuck on some geometry and flattened the first time. So I wasn't scared of it or anything, it's actually an easy fight. I just think it looks like it walked straight out of a nightmare.

This is a slightly extended version of a circuit I was running a while back to get the Balder Side Sword. I’ll give it a go.

Did this loop, got the crest thing, opened the area. Got my arse wiped repeatedly. The ‘normal’ mobs in there (especially the dude with the axe by the entrance where the cat thing is) aren't that difficult but those fucking knights with the claymores are nearly impossible. I beat the one at the entrance by going right to the edge, hitting him off the cliff then suiciding with him. Spent the last hour or so trying to beat the one who's a little way into the forest. Got to the point that unless the thief in the forest aggroes unexpectedly I can beat the magey-type dude, then around to axefuck, then pull the cleric up and waste him, then take the thief, and I just beat the second knight by pulling him right to the edge of his aggro range, avoiding him then arrowing him in the back as he disengaged, same way I beat Havel. Those guys have crazy high armor, hit like a truck, are really quick (no openings for an easy backstab) and sometimes string an extra attack where others they don't so unpredictable as well. They don't respawn though right?

This area seems way too difficult to grind effectively. Maybe I’m too low-level? My sword hits do ~95 damage to the normal dudes and when I could get them in about 45-50 on the knights.

Ah. Hm. The knights don't respawn, fortunately, so yeah, they are hard… but the route I take with those guys is: From the gate, walk a little forward til you aggro the mage. He likes to shoot at you, but when he gets bored, he’ll come in for some rapid slicing action. He's johnny-on-the-spot with blocking, I found block-stagger work well against him.

Then you can skirt the edge of the cliff and aggro mister ‘only 1k souls’ axe guy. When he's two-handing the axe, he’ll plant it in the ground with a wild swing. Dodge, don't block – you don't even need to roll, you should be able to just back up a bit and he’ll miss, leaving him open for a few good shots.

You only need to edge forward slightly toward the treeline from axe-dude and you’ll run into the cleric. His mace is deceptively heavy, but just like the axe guy, he over-extends when he does his big swing. Don't get greedy and aim for more than two counters, though. When he's down on health, he will run away from you to heal up – he's vulnerable when he does this, but he won't kick the animation off til he's confident he's a fair distance from you – so you may need to do a running attack to interrupt.Try to make sure he's facing the woods – if you let him go INTO the woods, you’ll probably agro the thief and life will get MUCH harder.

Once cleric's down, you only need to move a little way into the woods to agro the thief. He will sometimes simply stand still in front of you, I don't know why. 50% of the time, he doesn't even roll/block your next shot at him. Hang out for those and otherwise back-away from his attacks. Try to fight on the cliff to avoid agroing the hunter and other knight.

There are two knights and one hunter (Pharis) who won't respawn. So try to get them down first if you have to prioritize. But in general, following that circuit should clear out the lower guys to get free room to tackle the minibosses. The second knight not immediately next to the gateway and the hunter are both deeper into the forest. (Edit: Just read you beat both knights, so… yeah. Glad that's over. Things should be easier now. Try to clear out all the regular dudes so you can find that hunter though, the last thing you need is her fucking up your farming.)

Ah, if it ends up just the mage, cleric, bandit and thief are respawning then I’ve got no issues really, the rest of them are easy unless the mage runs into the forest and pulls the thief. One by one they’re not very hard at all. Just the knights. I have every confidence I can take out the Hunter as well, but the one time I encountered her she was an add when fighting the second knight and made him even more difficult.

Random unrelated question: if you kill a merchant do they stay dead? I’ve been eyeing off the undead merchant male for his Katana. I know I can buy the uchigatana from some other guy but I don't want to join the forest hunters covenant. So the other way is murdering the merchant. Can I kill him then pay Oswald to absolve me of it and reset him back to normal? Or does that only work against human NPCs?

Apparently they stay dead. And even if you don't kill them, they stay hostile.

Edit: Also, I believe you can join and quit some covenants no problem, and once you have the ring which boosts item drop by like… 300, all you need to do is spend a couple humanity then farm the rats under the giant fire-breathing drake-bridge to the parish for all the humanity you could ever need. Boring, but reliable.

@transientmind: I joined Quelaag's Sister's cultCovenant swapping from CatholicismThe Way of White and don't seem to have taken any penalty for it. But I don't want to join the forest hunters because you get summoned for PVP randomly. I guess I could leave Spiderboobs Covenant, go get the Katana from Shiva, then leave that one and go back. I haven't given any humanities to Quelaag's Sister yet so wouldn't lose anything doing that I think.

I think the item you mean is the Covetous Gold Serpent Ring and it drops in Sen's Fortress where I intend to go next. There's a better spot for farming rats even, from the bonfire in the Depths you go through the area above the shortcut to the room where the big doors through to Blighttown are (and the way down to Gaping Dragon's spot) and instead head through the upper area and there's a spot with like six rats right there. Can then go back and kill the slimes with pyromancy flames to grind them for large / green titanite. I’ve got that grind planned for later once I’ve got the ring. 🙂 Apparently Blighttown swamp is better for grinding titanite but I hate Blighttown.

I guess as far as Katanas go I could head into the area of Blighttown i didn't completely clear out and get the Iaito and not kill the merchant as well.

Well I think I’m about ready to chuck bandicam. 2 straight hours of Dayz recording lost because it screwed something up and the files are useless…

Cleaning up the house at 4 in the morning. Because what better time to do it? :/

And that's kitchen and loungeroom done. Now just gotta clear up the backyard and I’m sorted.

Then at some point before Monday, get all the crap I stashed in my sister's room back out and into mine again 😛

D.C.'s meat write-up:

*footage missing*

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FoYZR2JKkDU

I did discover this piece of footage. D:

http://instagram.com/p/j3qtRRIQIQ/

Dantastic!

The Metre is a great song.I miss Powderfinger.

I finished the Broken Age Act 1. It was a pretty cool guy. Could have been longer though, accoding to Steam I beat it in 4 hours. That included me getting frustrated and clicking on everything because I got stuck … twice.

TAY, there's something I have to get off of my chest.Something about the very medium that this site is mainly associated with.What makes a game fully engage a player, for the entire experience?The earliest I felt this was when Burnout 3 was released a decade ago.The fact that it was something that was being rewarded when you could already do it unofficially in other racing games, and that it was done with such bombastic flair hammered the gameplay home.The game is essentially vehicular pugilism, with takedowns replacing KO's, and fights breaking out between multiple opponents at a time, it really hasn't been touched since.Ni No Kuni added one simple command to the traditional RPG, "defend".It may not have been the first to have it, but having playing Final Fantasy 7 and having to sit through the opponent's attacks and not being able to do anything about it made you feel passive.Here, however, you’re no longer sitting around waiting to attack, you’re on your toes, defending as well as attacking.

Can anyone else think of other examples from other games?

Counters in fighting games spring immediately to mind. It could be argued that Pong was a game of defence and endurance rather than offence

Then you’ve got a mix of both, which is breakout.

Examples of games that took their genre and kind of twisted it on its head? Or games that fully-engaged you?

I got confused by the question 😛

Games that fully engaged you.

I think I get pretty well engaged by just about any game, it’d be easier to list ones that didn't engage me at all.

Depends on your definition of ‘engaged’. Are you talking about that feeling you get when the rest of the world drops away and there's nothing but you and the game?

Usually it takes really good story to do that for me.

The Dragon Age games had the line between awareness-of-reality/gaming and full immersion blurred a fair bit. There were some pretty emotional moments in DA2 for sure, like the part with your mother's admirer.That sequence actually turned my Hawke into a sour, bitter, volatile renegade, where previously she’d been cheerfully sardonic at worst. I started playing differently because of feels.And as much as the button-mashing is maligned, it has a certain visceral nature to it that you don't get with top-down queueing up strategic commands. Of course, those were just rare, shining moments of success – the game did a LOT to bust me out of immersion-town with its stupid copypasta rooms and x number of waves of monsters-from-the-ceilings.

In terms of really getting ‘into the zone’ with gameplay, Sequence did the trick for me. Rhythm game, so you had to be in time with the beat, and before I knew it I was tapping my feet and bopping to the game as I tried to get off combos and build up mana for spells.

But FF7 did have a defend option…

Also I found the Ni no Kuni combat the exact opposite of engaging so I’m not sure what you’re meaning in the first place. Games where there's no downtime?

Yeah, pretty much where there's no downtime.

Well I’d argue that Dark Souls is this. You can't slack off, you’re always doing stuff and always paying attention.

Anything by platinum, those games have basically no down time as they are usually throwing large buildings at you or something (except for anarchy reign's singleplayer…).

Wonderful 101 was a great example, There's a lengthy conversation about someones past? kill some bad guys while its going on. Are you getting a little bit sick of playing a character action game? the game turns into Super Punch-out, or Star Fox, or Raiden. I haven't seen a game that pulls of that much variety in a long time. The cutscenes were so epic as well, that they were simply awesome to watch, with a few QTE's for flair.

TY Based Platinum.

You asked a really important question on the last day of TAY. You are crazy, guy.

In answer to your question, I am not sure. I typically can only play games for 90 minutes at a time, and it takes something pretty special to break that. Off the top of my head, I would list TESV: Skyrim or Katawa Shoujo. I remember that I lost a fortnight to Skyrim back in 2012 where all I did was wake up, play Skyrim, and sleep. You might be aware that I played Katawa Shoujo for about seven and a half hours at once about two weeks ago. That was a thing.

In recent memory, I suppose Bleed and Dead Space were pretty engaging the whole way through. Granted, Bleed has the benefit of being about three and a half hours long.

I suppose, when I look back, all the Pokemon games kept my attention all the way through, even whilst grinding. Obviously, Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness and Time kept my attention throughout, although it's probably my favourite game ever, so that goes without saying.

There are probably some other examples, but that's all I can think of right now.

So, the GF sent me a link to a clip from The Newsroom and now I have to start watching it. 😛

Newsroom, eh? NEVER HEARD OF IT!

I bet it's just the behind the scenes working of a news room.Like, the stories of the guy how has to tape all the cables down onto the ground so that people don't trip on them.

Ah, the life of the cable puller is a thankless one!

Noone has ever thanked me for all the time I’ve spent laying around pulling my cable

Yeah. I just watched the first episode. Holy Jeez. That was ONE episode, not a movie?*checks* Oh. Yeah, probably not a typical episode then. But still, VERY intense.

Not entirely atypical.

All the plants around the house are watered, but I still have half a pool of water left. Wat do.

Raise a colony of Otters?

Maybe. How do I hatch a starter otter?

Knock out night watch man at zoo. Steal Otter. It ain't rocket surgery!

Pft, I don't wanna have to go all the way there. Make the otters come to me.

Skinny dip.

I’m afraid of sunburn.

If ads have taught me anything, it's that the way to be safe in the sun is to slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen and slap on a hat.

Odd that they never specified wearing pants but I guess genitals don't get sunburn.

I just beat Guacamelee too! Very, very fun game. If you completely exclude the last boss.

I had more trouble with Jaguar Javier than the final boss. The final boss’ attacks were kind of easy to telegraph.

Great game though.

The biggest problem I had with the final boss was his first stage, because I am colour blind I can't tell the difference between his green and red shield. So I basically had to guess when fighting him.

The fact that you basically get one chance to break the shield just frustrated me to no end.

Just got back from a BBQ for my Grandma's 90th B’day. My uncle wheeled her up to the table next to the seat where I was sitting, and she looked at me and said "Who's that?" 🙁

Great.. worst page get EVAR!

I’ve seen cheerier ones, yeah…

hugs

Sorry to hear that, man. :'(

Saw this posted on twitter.Again, my condolences. 🙁

Alright, so here's a question which has been on my mind:When you’re connecting a PS3 controller to a PC, you either have to set it up yourself, or set it to emulate a 360 controller.So what happens if a game doesn't support the 360? Do you just have to use a Keyboard and Mouse? Or is there a similar button-mapping program?

Joy2Key and similar programs will let you set up system-wide button maps.

OK, thanks. Just figured it’d be annoying if there was none for 360 and you had to use a keyboard and mouse.

So, Australia finish the summer 12-1 overall against England.Damn.

http://imgur.com/a/7UfeZ

Hahaha

Also, new course starts tomorrow and I am freaking out about it.

Whats the worst that can happen? Show up for an exam you’ve not studied for and then realise you’re in your underpants?

The worst that could happen is that I could be stuck having to work with one of the guys from the last course. He is one of very few people I freely use the big C for, and would have here too if I wasn't aware of Scree's issue with it.

Well technically they’re a nice thing anyway, far nicer than that rancid puddle of marmoset diarrhoea.

See that's how you move away from gendered insults and still remain as insulting as possible, go graphic and eloquent

So I went over to my brothers for an anime night. It was pretty good, although we didn't really watch much anime because we were to busy playing with the Oculus Rift that I didn't realise he owned.

Oh man, it's so much fun. I really want to get one but will probably wait for the proper "retail" release of it.

🙁Too hot to sleep…

So I got a copy of Left 4 Dead when it was free. Does anyone want to play it at some point?If not, does anyone want to play Killing Floor? Come on, I bought it months ago and have only been able to play it solo. The same deal with payday 1. I should stop buying co-op games.

Oops.

Hmm, the "k" key on my keyboard seems to be sticking. Sigh…

This is not the TAY I am looking for.

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