Whenever you introduce a new creature, you should be very specific in your descriptions so that players know if this is something for them to fight or have sex with.
Shamus, Wednesday May 2, 2007
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “DM of the Rings Remastered XCV: You Could Get a Splinter”
This week is more Borderlands 3.
Not anything new with the base game. I still think the main story sucks, and the combat feels squishy. But, I started some of the DLCs, and so far I’ve been pleasantly surprised.
I played through Moxxi’s Heist of the Handsome Jackpot fully expecting the villain to just be some AI version of Handsome Jack, but was happy to find out that the only version of Jack you find is one of his Doppelgangers that’s been trapped and doesn’t want to kill you. The writing is good enough; I didn’t even watch something on my other screen just to make it through.
I also started the Guns, Love, and Tentacles DLC. I’ve only played a little bit, but so far it’s looking good. You even get to see Gaige return which is delightful.
So, what’s everyone else doing?
(As some people noted, it would not have made sense to re-introduce Merry & Pip as players. Each of them goes off on his own. It would have made a three-way party split, which is confusing enough. Worse, most of the humor comes from the players ignoring NPCs and talking to each other – something the Hobbits wouldn’t be able to do. I could have made them players, but I couldn’t make them funny.)
NPCs do enjoy such an odd status as second-class beings. Players will talk amongst themselves as if the NPC wasn’t there. Players will walk away in the middle of a conversation if they realize an NPC is of no use to them. Players expect NPCs to be available at their whim to provide information and dispense rewards. This applies even if the players are nobodies and the NPC in question is a King. In fact, if NPCs ever turned the tables and treated players as they treated others, it would most likely lead to violence.
This is as it should be. Imagine how tedious a story would be if every extra and minor character you encountered tried to shove out in front and make themselves into a main character.
Nobody wants that much realism.
– Shamus, Monday Apr 30, 2007
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “DM of the Rings Remastered XCIV: For The Shorties”
Greetings fellow humans! I simply ran out of time to write anything this week. The non-stop litany of broken household appliances and cars hopefully choked out it’s last gasps of desperation this week as we transition into the better part of the year, in my opinion. (I’m in the southwest right now, so Fall and Winter are truly better than Spring and Summer.) Very few activities I have engaged in require more than a sentence or two, so I’m taking this week off. There are a few Star Wars: The Old Republic screenshots in the expanded post.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Nothing From Me This Week, Thanks…”
This week I’m still playing Borderlands 3, but I’ve started a new job, and I’m too tired to think of words to express my feelings on Borderlands 3, so I’ll just say I don’t like it very much.
What are you guys doing this week?
Final fast food burgers update, for a while anyway. I’m just about sick of eating burgers. I had the opportunity, sooner than I expected, to try Arby’s current selection of hamburgers. I’ve said before, generally I like Arby’s. I like the Roast Beef Sandwiches, but usually I focus on whatever their limited-time only burgers and sandwiches are. I used to go there exclusively for their “Market Fresh Sandwiches” menu, but they have actually discontinued all but one of the original choices. Arby’s also, as far as I can tell, started using cheaper ingredients and smaller portions. The Roast Turkey Ranch & Bacon sandwich is neither as thick as it once was, nor as tasty. If you didn’t ever eat one, you’ll have to take my word that they originally were a pretty significant taste explosion. In my opinion, of course. They still offer a Corned Beef Reuben sandwich, which started out as an occasional special offer, but I don’t think Arby’s offering is as good as just about anyone else’s. But apparently that was more popular than the Turkey Swiss they once offered.
Erm…didn’t mean for that to veer off into a rant. Anyway, on to the burgers, and the biggest non-surprise of all.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “One More Burger(s)”
So here we are, at the end of the second movie. This means I spent 46 strips in Fellowship, and 47 in Two Towers. I didn’t plan that, it just sort of worked out that way. Fellowship occupies 58 total pages, while Two Towers is 74 pages long.
So they are finally going to Isengard. There was a rumor that the Hobbits might have been taken there. I guess we’ll find out.
Sure, it can be bad when you realize that one of your players has been zoning out during crucial moments. But, the real horror sets in when the players who have been paying attention try to explain, and their perception of your gameworld is so different from your intention that you almost don’t recognize it as your own.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “DM of the Rings Remastered XCIII: Impervious to Information”
There are two major schools of thought about how you should write software. Here's what they are and why people argue about it.
Crunch-mode game development isn't good, but sometimes it happens for good reasons.
Crysis 2 has basically the same plot as Half-Life 2. So why is one a classic and the other simply obnoxious and tiresome?
You know how videogames sometimes do that thing where it's preposterously hard to go through a simple door? This one is really bad.
Most stories have plot holes. The failure isn't that they exist, it's when you notice them while immersed in the story.
What was the problem with the Playstation 3 hardware and why did Sony build it that way?
What is this silly word, why did some people get so irritated by it, and why did it fall out of use?
My picks for what was important, awesome, or worth talking about in 2016.
From the company that brought us Fallout 76 comes a storefront / Steam competitor. It's a work of perfect awfulness. This is a monument to un-usability and anti-features.
A look back at Star Trek, from the Original Series to the Abrams Reboot.
T w e n t y S i d e d
