Poll #1488254 The burning question
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 7

Antiva is...

Since Holmes in general and Hogfather seem fairly evenly split, looks like discussion is the next step... any arguments for/against either?

Oopsie,looks like it's creeping up toward the end of the month, and we still don't have a book for next month picked out. Time to remedy that!


Poll #1487255 Parasha: December
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 13

Which book should we do for Parasha in December?

Christmas is coming...

To go back over the choices, Dickens wasn't popular despite being seasonal (too many bad memories of him from school perhaps?), Hogfather would be a bit much IF we decide to do Night Watch for May, and Sherlock Holmes seeeemed to be the most liked idea, but I want to be sure. :p If you have any other suggestions though, now's the time!

( Liar! )

Reminder of the book schedule.

So apparently the U.S. isn't alone in seriously fucked up legal problems.

Just... yow.

Since I know a lot of y'all watch/enjoy Dr. Who, thought I'd point out that the gold box on Amazon today has any season of Dr. Who available for $32.50. Give or take a penny. :p

Just a heads-up.

Comments on the previous entry were along the lines of no separate spoilers entry needed, since the short stories are stand-alone enough. So unless I'm otherwise requested, I'll just keep to one post, and ask people to remember to not be all spoily-pants about future short stories.

( Runaround )

As requested, here's a reminder link of the book schedule.

"You're utterly impossible."

"On the contrary, I'm often told how very easy I am, my dear."

Looks like my Dragon Age character profile is finally starting to update. Whee!

Looks like it's a bit behind though. (And not the "hour" it says in player profiles...), since she's been in unfortunately slightly skankier (and uglier) robes since yesterday sometime, and has been wielding a better staff, stuff like that. Er, and yeah, just noticed that's at level 4 which.. yeah, old info.

But still! At least it gives an idea of the character...

They are doing pretty well about the non-black-and-white choices. I mean, there are some that are still fairly black and white, but for the most part it's no longer a choice between "I shall sally forth and be a paladin of righteousness, at least for this quest/dialogue options!" and "*evil cackling laugh*"

Instead, we now have more subtlety. More of a "what do YOU think is the right thing, between two positions that aren't all necessarily right-or-wrong? Or do you even care?" And in some cases, really, more just a "okay, in which *particular* way do you want to be a complete and utter bastard?"

I'd say if anything, the choices on the whole are less about good and evil, and more about pragmatism in a tough time, vs. shiny happy idealism. Although there's still some of the good and evil around, of course.

It's... interesting.

(And I still have NO clue if thievery influences anything at all!)

Now I feel like an idiot. I entered my codes for the two free downloads with Dragon Age, but didn't realize I still had to separately download them. It wasn't until I actually bought and downloaded the Warden's Keep pack and then looked over them in the "downloads" menu when I was starting the game that I realized that one said "downloaded" and the other two only said "purchased" and I still had to go in and download and install them. XD

Please someone else tell me you saw this post and said "oh hell..."! XD

And the spoily bits. Up to, um, well, just after the first time you have control over using the World Map, so after the intro and the first major bit of storyline, I guess...

( Spoilers, duh. And I mean it - this can spoil up through the first 8% or so of the game, though avoiding origin spoilers) )

For the non spoily bits...

First off, I'm getting an AD&D second edition vibe for some reason, not sure what it is.

Second, I'd hate to be a guy in this society:

Man: *Is standing shaving at mirror in the morning*
Razor: *teeny nick*
Man: *Is suddenly covered in fountain of blood, obscuring the mirror and drenching half his clothing, making his face a mask of death*

Third... man, everyone DOES love the mages. desdenova commented on it as well, but I'd noticed it before that. Out of like about seven or eight people on my friends list playing the game, I think I saw a warrior and a rogue, the rest mages. (Including my own. No, you don't need to ask the race.)

Fourth: You know, the combat wouldn't be NEARLY as difficult if there was a "stop being a fucking idiot" AI option. Or more to the point, a "refrain from gleefully running off into the thick of ten million foes well away from your damn healer" tactic. Even a "get your NPC asses back here" quick button would be nice. (After the fact, I suspect you could possibly press both shoulder buttons to select the whole party and move them away from the fight, but not sure. Haven't tried it.)

Was going to post spoily bits under a cut, but since I don't want people not playing (or not as far in) to dread clicking on the comments, I'll post them separately. So don't spoil in these comments please. ;)

1) Dragon Age: Origins
2) New Computer

Things I have played with already: A List

(see above)

Oh hey, guess it's that day again, innit? Here's a new game to chew on for a change.

( Atelier Annie: Alchemist of Sera Island )

Recommendation: If you absolutely love item creation games, or the Atelier series in general, it might be worth a try. It's not a BAD game, just overly simplistic (and short). But if you haven't tried the series at all before, I'd personally go with any of the Atelier Iris or Mana Khemia games, first. (If, of course, you have the proper game systems...)