I understand. It's kind of hard to believe that a year later, the game still isn't up to version 1.0. I knew that they were having a difficult time with development because the staff were scattered, but I figured development would greatly speed up once they all got together. It doesn't seem like that happened, but I know they have been working on the game for a long time and they frequently post on the site to let us know what they've been doing and are working on. In the news that I posted, they did include a link to what show most of what has been changed with the game, you can check it out if you'd like (http://starbounder.org/Version_History/Nightly).

I enjoyed the game when I first played it, but I reached a point where all it seemed that I was doing was looking for higher-tiered ores to craft higher-tiered gear. I was disappointed a few times at least with the nightly builds. I remember the time they took out the vines that were so abundantly found in caves, which made it much harder to get plant fiber which is an important ingredient in the game. It took me a bit of time to realize that I could get plant fiber by farming, but it was still less abundant. I also remember the game crashing at moments, like loading a saved world or character with a new version of the nightly build. Also, visiting some planets contained nothing but sudden death. Still, I understood that the nightly builds are a work in progress. They've added a new race and some more quests. They've made changes to the game's progression, so I think it *could* be more fun and worth it when they release a new update to the stable build. I may have to pop back into the game's nightly builds to see what's changed since the last time I played (months ago). I do hope that a new stable build is "nearly complete" as they say (also note that on the site "nearly" is written in italics) and not something that we'll have to wait another 6-12 months to see. My impression of this news was that we could definitely see something soon.

This kind of ties in with Terraria. Right now, I can't wait for 1.3 to be released, I'm VERY excited about it and have said so on this site numerous times. Unfortunately, we still haven't been told when that will come. I think I saw a post from October that said it wouldn't come "within the next two months." They also seem to be saying that it will be released when they finish with it, but don't want to put the pressure of a time-table on the developers because they want to make sure everything works well.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that while waiting can be disappointing, it can also be worth it. A better game can be created or updated if developers have enough time to make sure that the game functions very well and is as bug-free as possible. Terraria developers have done a good job at posting some spoilers and updates in the forums, but I think the developers of Starbound have shown much more transparency in regards to what they've been doing. They update their website frequently, which is great because it lets us know that they're still working very hard on additions we expect to see that will (hopefully) make the game much better.

On another note, wow I'm really good at exceeding that 3,000 character comment limit! LOL

Travis, where did you find more info about what else they have to do on the game?

Tim, I know the feeling! Since characters were constantly wiped, I didn't really face that problem in Starbound, although I do have that issue in Terraria.

Oh yea, duh! I forgot all about that. Thanks, Travis! =)

The unstable (not referring to the nightly build) branch has received the Winter Update. I watched a video about this last night. It is expected that this update will reach the stable branch in the next few weeks (probably before we see Terraria 1.3).

I had my copy of Starbound configured to received the nightly builds branch. Unfortunately, the last time it updated, I got an error about Steam failing to update it due to a "disk read error." I ran a scan disk check, which resulted in no errors for my hard drive. So, I re-installed Starbound. I decided to leave it on the stable build, since it should be receiving the Winter Update soon.

That's cool. I'll share some thoughts with you that I had last night. I'm impatiently waiting for Terraria to update, both mobile and PC versions. Yet when it comes to Starbound, I can definitely wait. It's not that I don't like Starbound, I do really, but "like" is an understatement of how I feel about Terraria. Also, both games have good music and I'm sure I've spent more time playing Terraria than Starbound. However, I grew tired of Starbound's music, whereas I don't feel that way about Terraria. Is that odd or understandable? Maybe it's because both games have their own individual sound, I don't know.

DLC seems to be a new thing with Nintendo. Hyrule Warriors has DLC, which I purchased as well. I think it's cool that they've extended the life and play-ability of both games. It makes me wonder what could be in store for future games, especially Smash Bros., which comes out tomorrow (which I have pre-ordered along with two amiibo figures and the two new Pokemon Games for the 3DS). Oh, now I'm getting to talking about the new Smash Bros. for the Wii U. I saw that some of the original games that introduced characters will be playable from within that game. So, games within a game. I believe I also saw something that said they've already started working on (or planning for) the next console.

I just finished both of the new cups as Link on 50cc. It's really fun and I'm really glad Link joined the race. Still, it seems weird that he's in Mario Kart since he's not in Mario games. The first new cup is Yoshi Cup and the second is Triforce. In the first one, Wario's mine returned from the Wii version of the game. This time, anti-gravity parts were added and bumping into mine carts gives you an anti-gravity boost. There was also an Excite Bike track. The final track of the Triforce Cup is a Hyrulian themed track and is pretty cool. The gold coins were replaced with green rupees and the chomp plants were replaced by the ones we see in Zelda games. I also like the new The Legend of Zelda themed carts.

Using an amiibo with the game unlocks a Mii custom for whichever character the amiibo is. So, I unlocked the Link costume by using my Link amiibo.

The controllers seemed to work fine for me. I didn't like the very small screw that I had to take out to insert batteries. I had trouble getting that screw back in, so I just left it out. I played Sonic a bit, my son played it and some of the other games, too. Looking at the list of games, it doesn't seem to have Toejam & Earl. Jurassic Park was one of my favorite games on the console, but it doesn't seem to be included either.

Awesome! Thanks for providing a more detailed link. I bought the first 2/3 of the game at GameStop, but for this final installment, I might just buy it straight from Blizzard as a digital copy.

Well, I agree with you about Collectors Editions. Yes, I stated in this post that a release date hasn't been set, but you can join the beta. Thanks for adding it, I'll probably edit this post to change the game we're talking about.

Originally, I had copied the embedded URL from the site I shared and tried to get the video embedded with the buttons at the top of the post. This didn't work and I had to cut the URL, which left only a link. Luckily, I found the video on YouTube and used that URL instead and now the post looks so much better. I also accidentally used the word "Voice" instead of "Void" in the post title. I changed it, but the URL didn't change, so I deleted that one and created a new one, fixing the title and friendly URL. Hahaha.

That's understandable. I'm just glad I was able to find it on YouTube so that you could see the video within this post without just seeing a URL. =)

Ok, my bad, you older Cheerful Ghosts have discussed it. That post was written "over two years ago." This Cheerful Ghost (me) is just almost a year old. Even though I did back track and read a lot of posts, I obviously missed that one. I think that's because I didn't get into D3 until after I did that. So, this is a bit of a double post, but it's in the forums, instead of the main page. This post could also help generate some new discussion about the game.

I'm sitting here at the PC with the link in a tab and on my Kindle Fire HDX while my son is playing Skyrim on the PS3. =)

I think this new-to-me level is great for me because it gives me a good reason to get back into the game. I have two Heroes, a Barbarian and a Paladin. I think the first is about level 64 and the other must be around 40. I can't seem to recall how far I got with the Paladin. I did log in today and play a little bit. Since it's been a while, I'm not sure what I was doing last, so I decided to do story mode again with my Paladin so I could collect the necessary ingredients for the staff.

Do you remember how long it took you guys to find the necessary ingredients to make the staff? I know they're rare, but I'm still looking for the first ingredient (the black mushroom).

Playing the game again is reminding me of my indecision. I often find it difficult to decide what to equip. If an item doesn't give me any bonus compared to what I have equipped then that makes my decision easier and I therefore sell the item. I am grateful, though, that I have about 1 million gold, so I've expanded my storage chest and decided to drop a bunch of stuff in it. Perhaps I should be saving items that I find for other character classes, but I end up selling them.

Excellent points, thanks! I do look at the various aspects of items to decide whether or not to equip, store, or sell. One thing I found yesterday gave experience for picking up gold. I thought that was an awesome ability, but I didn't equip it (I believe I stored it). I kept quite a few items in my inventory even though I didn't equip or sell them. I got tired of the inventory filling up, so I bought another tab and stored all that stuff.

Oddly enough, I've even begun to think that it would be cool if I could choose not to have a follower. At level 65, I don't feel like I need one. Maybe that's just the loner in me thinking or just selfishly wanting the EXP for myself. LOL

So much for "there is no cow level!" LOL

Interesting, thanks, Travis. I decided to equip that piece of equipment that grants EXP for picking up gold. Honestly, I'm not even sure how to to tell how much EXP I need to level up.

When my Crusader says, "how tastes your fear," I think of America today, especially for Republicans and those who watch Fox News, to which I think, "it must taste pretty sweet."

I just got to Whimsyshire!!!!! While I was looking for the first ingredient, I came upon a Rainbow Goblin. This gave me a portal to Whimsyshire! I believe my friend got there the same way, since she got there by accident. It was fun an cool, although it seemed to only consist of one floor.

And what do you know, my next trip into the Cathedral Level 1, I found a Black Mushroom. =)

That's disappointing, I was hoping for a boss. Still, some of those unicorns are pretty powerful. I haven't looked, but I imagine there are some cool drops there, too. I'm not sure if it's related, but I picked up another cool piece of equipment that "rains" gold when you get a "massacre." I'm still going to continue to hunt down the other drops I need to make the staff.

That's cool!

That's awesome, I noticed you were online today when I was. My Barbarian is level 66 now. Today, I got a notification that some of my items were damaged and needed repair. I totally forgot about that! At least the game let me know.

Wow, that is awesome, both the link and the level.

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/GregoPeck-1971/hero/47779024

You're making me think I should increase the level of difficulty. I should really, I'm not having any trouble defeating monsters.

I increased the difficulty from Normal to Hard. I died two or three times, but I leveled up twice. I found another interesting item, a Puzzle ring which will "[s]ummon a treasure goblin who picks up normal-quality items for you. After picking up 12–16 items, he drops a rare item with a chance for a legendary." Now that I have raised the difficulty, I'm glad to have a follower. I've also put Health potions back into my inventory (I have about 400 of them, I think).

Yeah, I need to pay more attention to it and start dropping "normal-quality items" for it to pick up, instead of holding on to them to sell. You obviously know much more about the game than I do. I'm often surprised by the drops that I get because I'm not fully aware of what's available. =)

My Barbarian is now level 70 and I figured out how to tell how much EXP you have. There is a bar above your abilities that shows this.

I noticed you got the "Batting 500" achievement. I went AFK and when I got back, I noticed you were there. I've seen Jon on a bit lately. Even though I didn't post anything new to Cheerful Ghost, I am glad that I have revitalized the Diablo III conversation. I'm glad that I'm playing again, too. I'm sure you two have spent a lot more hours with the game than I have. Not only am I enjoying this revived conversation, but I'm also liking the fact that I'm still learning about the game.

I'm beginning to think it's about time to increase the level of difficult. I'm currently playing it on "hard" and I'm not really taking much damage now. I think I just reached Paradigm level 11. I also leveled up my Artisan and Jeweler because I had some recipes that required them to have at least level 12. I only did that so that I could remove those recipes from my storage chest to make room for more stuff.

I'm currently in the Dalghur Oasis trying to get the last ingredient available in Act II, Liquid Rainbow. I did recently find another Rainbow Goblin and made it to Whimsydale. During that trip, I learned that if you click on a "Happy Cloud," it will sometimes drop some gold.

LOL Where did I come up with "Paradigm?" Anyway, I think it's a pretty neat system.

So, when I said that I reached the level earlier, I think I really should have said that I made it to Whimsydale. I've been there multiple times now via the same way (Rainbow Goblin portal). So, perhaps I haven't been to Whimsyshire yet. I'm still waiting for the Chiltara to drop the Gibbering Gemstone, the last ingredient I need to create the Herding Staff. This used to be a 100% drop, but it was changed and is now more difficult to obtain. I've fought that creature multiple times and it still hasn't dropped.

I have increased the difficulty twice now, so I just started playing "Master" difficulty today. I'm still not really taking any damage, so it might be about time to increase the difficulty again.

I found a new ring that has an awesome ability of haunting nearby enemies. This is really helpful. I also now have a set equipped, my first and only. If you want to check out the details of these items see my hero profile (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/GregoPeck-1971/hero/47779024).

Another thing I wanted to note...I almost never use my abilities (keys 1-4). I imagine that a different class could get me using those more often. I pretty much use my main attack (left-click on mouse) and my attack that uses Fury (right-click on mouse). My profile says that right-click ability is Ancient Spear, but what I see is a chain that often brings my enemies closer to me. Often, when I use this ability, I think of Scorpion's attack in Mortal Kombat and think, "come here!" LOL I often hate when enemies get away from me and sometimes use this ability to pull them back closer to me.

Interesting! I've seen treasure goblins open those portals and I try to kill them before they jump back in, but I've never seen one stay open after a treasure goblin dies. I've only seen that occur with rainbow goblins, which is how I've made it to Whimsydale. Maybe when I see one open a portal again, I'll try to go through. 10 million gold from one place?! Wow! I think right now I have about 8-9 million. Thanks for sharing the link, now I have another place to try to get to. =)

Oh! We may have discussed this some time ago, but I wanted to ask you all, who your favorite follower is. I'm not sure I have one. I think I have tried them all. I've been using the Templar mostly because I think he's selected by default, but sometimes I think I get sick of him. Maybe I should change my follower from time to time to reduce the monotony of it.

Just after reading your info here, I saw one of the in-game notices while the game was loading that slain treasure goblins rarely open a portal to the Vault.

Since then, I've probably seen that message 5 times already. Oh! I finally got the Gibbering Gemstone!!!!

Thanks for joining me, Jon! I didn't realize my game was open, I thought it was "private." Still, I didn't mind the cool surprise of your visit. Next time I play, I'm sure I'll be playing a new character that can wield that Herding Staff.

I just defeated Malthael and OMG that was the hardest boss in the entire game on Torment 1!!!!! I died I don't know how many times and I used nearly all of my skills whenever they were ready. Leap didn't seem to do any good against him so I didn't use that, except for maybe once. Avalanche worked sometimes, but not always. War Cry and Wrath of the Berserker were definitely helpful! I think Ancient Spear was helpful a little bit. That battle did make me glad that I started using my skills. I don't know why I started using them, but the game got more fun once I did. Wow, just wow, that was seriously tough! That fight against Malthael makes all the other bosses look pathetic!! Really, I don't think any of them really ever gave me any problems even without using skills 1-4. Finished the game with my Barbarian yet again maybe the second or third time, but this time at level 70, Paragon 61.

I think I remember him being more of a challenge than any other boss no matter what difficulty the game is on.

I did reset some of my Paragon levels. I threw all the points I could into Critical Hit Chance, Strength, and I don't know what else. I had spent some of those points for Gold Chance when I had the item equipped that gave me experience for finding gold, but I later removed it for a better item, which meant I didn't need those bonus stat points anymore.

I'm glad the Herding Staff works just by having it in your inventory. I thought I had to create a Wizard to use it, but no. Apparently the staff isn't upgradable anymore after a certain patch. I kept trying and was dong what seemed to be the right thing to get it upgrade, but I read that a patch removed those upgrades.

That's cool, Travis, thanks for answering! Once I started using my skills, the Templar was helpful because he could get a group of nearby enemies closer to us and stunned, then I'd use Avalanche on the group.

I don't really know about "Seasons," so I haven't tried that out.

Yeah, I need to play GTAV again. I don't know why I haven't, I'm really sorry. Part of me is afraid that if I play, you won't be on or playing anymore. I haven't played in almost a year! The PS4 edition is tempting me to get a PS4, but this awesome PC of mine is telling me to wait for the PC version. If only I could see some comparison of the two (or three counting the PS3) versions.

SimCity 4 Deluxe. I was actually going to post a comment here, "well that didn't last long." I played through the tutorials and was done with it. I have books to read and here I am sitting on Facebook. Shame on me.

I remember playing 2000 many years ago, (before the year 2000 when I had already graduated high school or was still there, since I graduated in '98). I was up quite a while playing that one. I think I have a copy of it some where around. This (along with The Sims) is one of those games that I most definitely use cheat codes, trying to balance a budge just sucks. Hahahaha.

Oh and all that said, I still want to show off the GTAO character I created. I think he does look like me. I need to get a screen shot. I'm really pleased with him.

Yeah, I agree. My best time is after 8PM EST, after my son is in bed. He keeps asking me if he can play GTA and I keep telling him, "no."