Travis | Cheerful Ghost

This game continues to amaze me. What follows is a somewhat

http://www.hidiablo3gold.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Diablo-III1.jpg

This game continues to amaze me. What follows is a somewhat disjointed collection of thoughts.

Nightmare difficulty with my Monk (Capuchin. Get it? A Capuchin MONKey?) has proven fairly easy. Jon, if you're reading this, you probably doubt me when I say that due to how many times I died when we were playing, but with a quick gear fix everything is smoother sailing. I have been reading up on builds and how to optimize things for my class, so I will probably have a powerhouse when all is said and done. I have gotten barely past the Skeleton King in act 1, and I'm at level 37. I've amused myself going back through and playing boss fights in Normal with my monk now. It's uncanny just how much easier 4 levels makes Izual and Diablo. Izual was down in 30 seconds, Diablo in about 2 minutes.

In other news, I gave my wife a guest pass and she loved it, so she's now playing with me! I started up a Demon Hunter (Winchester, named after demon hunters Sam and Dean Winchester from Supernatural) since she was interested in Monk, so we have some melee and ranged going. I'm up to 25 on my Demon Hunter and loving it so far.

When I'm playing DH, I think I prefer it to Monk, until I switch back to my monk. That's one awesome thing about the game-- everything (so far) feels fresh. New difficulties and new classes that fundamentally change gameplay make the same content you've already played feel fresh again.

Demon Hunter was a bit tricky, at least at first. Every death was a learning experience, but early on death came quickly and often. Now I'm a badass as long as I don't get in the middle of a pack of elites.

I'm looking forward to seeing how they both play out.

EDIT: Also, click the image for a pretty badass wallpaper.

Im giving my wrist a rest. I had the day off today, and with

I'm giving my wrist a rest. I had the day off today, and with the exception of a few errands and a call or two when things went wrong at work, I've been playing Diablo 3.

I think I'm approaching the end of act 2. As amazed as I was with the pacing in Act 1, it's like it just keeps getting better. The enemies keep ramping up their difficulty as I level, obviously, but the sense of your power growing is present throughout. One of my pet peeves with games is when the progression never feels like you're progressing. This avoids that stagnation in a major way, and I can't even put my finger on why.

From what I've heard, the pacing just keeps getting better.

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/26/2012 at 02:57am

The pacing is very good. Id say for me the act with the least good pacing was Act 3. Act 4 was the best followed by Act 1. IV is great because its like a bunch of mini-boss fights to the end and that was really fun.

I just started Nightmare and its much more difficult and as such I need to change my play strategy as its not working as well as it was.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 05/26/2012 at 03:17am

What level did you end up on when you finished Normal? Just wondering what the exp-per-level curve is like.

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/26/2012 at 02:56pm

32. Some people beat it in less time round level 20ish though.

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/26/2012 at 07:10pm

Trying out Nightmare. So much harder and as such I die often. Really fun though.

Tungsten wrote on 05/26/2012 at 11:42pm

I've been joining public games. If you don't have a bunch of friends around, I highly recommend it, at least your second time through. Playing with other people is just so much more interesting. Then enemies are harder, the play-styles more diverse.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 05/28/2012 at 01:43am

How important is communication in public games? I can't read the chat box to save me.

Tungsten wrote on 05/28/2012 at 04:07am

it's not actually used all that often. Here and there people will say hello, but usually you can tell what's going on by just reading body(?) language.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 05/28/2012 at 04:31am

After I am done with my first normal (and get my authenticator, because I am paranoid) I will probably start jumping into some public games, and just follow the leader.

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/28/2012 at 04:47pm

I have been doing a bit more multiplayer in Nightmare. Its quite fun and now that I am back home on my Desktop I plan on playing more of that.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 05/28/2012 at 06:08pm

Looks like I'm going to end up right around 32 or 33 when I'm done with Normal. Looking forward to Nightmare, I think.

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/28/2012 at 08:07pm

I think you will like it, its much harder but fun. Talked about it in my latest post. Hard to pin why, but it is.

Tungsten wrote on 05/28/2012 at 09:47pm

More elites, and the combinations of powers. I can't handle plagued, frozen, I just run away. And everything has at least 10x the hp.

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So, apparently there have been a lot of user accounts

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/05/22/diablo-3-accounts-hacked-items-stolen-real-money-auction-house-due-next-week/

So, apparently there have been a lot of user accounts hacked. Is everyone here safe?

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/22/2012 at 04:01pm

So far so good. At some point I may do the mobile authenticator entirely but thus far I have a pretty good password.

Ben_Dodson wrote on 05/22/2012 at 04:30pm

I have my Mobile Authenticator. Easy to setup, easy to use. Make it that more secure

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 05/22/2012 at 06:02pm

I'm considering a physical authenticator, myself. Something about a mobile app seems less secure.

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/23/2012 at 01:42am

Same RSA mechanism, different delivery.

Ben_Dodson wrote on 05/23/2012 at 04:49pm

I have both and since I know 1. my phone is with me always and locks it self. 2. I have the restore and original serial numbers. I am ok.? I did test this and it took about 20min on hold but less than a minute with all the right information to remove it. I do have both but my phone is deffinatly easier cause it is with me

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 05/23/2012 at 09:48pm

Yeah, under ideal circumstances I would go with the phone app too. I only ever play in one place, I have my RSA token from FFXI on a lanyard in a container on the coffee table, so it's simple enough to grab. I have my phone with me everywhere, and that's exactly why I don't want it on my phone. 1. My smartphone belongs to my employer, 2. I could lose or break the smartphone, 3. Someone could steal my smartphone, and 4. The token looks pretty cool. :)

The app is convenient as hell, but for my purposes the $6 token is totally worth it.

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/23/2012 at 09:59pm

Right. Totally go token. I wouldn't rely on that if I didn't own my smartphone either. $6 is cheap too.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 05/25/2012 at 09:15pm

The unfortunate thing is that their shipping is apparently stupid. Next day shipping apparently means nothing. I ordered it like 4 days ago now and there hasn't been any kind of update. Perhaps they're getting a lot of orders due to the recent account hackage.

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/26/2012 at 02:54am

I bet they are. Id tell them because if you pay for next day shipping and you dont get it you need a refund.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 05/26/2012 at 03:15am

I have submitted a ticket and haven't heard back, but with the authenticators, next day shipping is free anyway.

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/26/2012 at 02:56pm

That makes sense.

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/26/2012 at 02:57pm

Hope you get it soon. Is you account locked down yet or do you turn it on when it arrives?

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 05/28/2012 at 01:44am

You just assign it when it arrives. I finally got a response from Blizz. They mail them out once a week, and the next day option was there in error.

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Alright, here we go. Namwen#1800 if youre interested in

Alright, here we go. Namwen#1800 if you're interested in playing with me :) (stupid character limit wouldn't take panickedthumb).

I think Im about halfway through Rage, and I have learned

http://officialrageinc.webs.com/rage%20avatar.png

I think I'm about halfway through Rage, and I have learned three things.

* Don't trust game demos.
* Don't trust gamers.
* Don't trust reviewers.

I played the demo and decided to skip it, but decided to buy it on a whim and I am having so much fun with this game. Apparently the PC version was buggy as hell at launch, but I have yet to see a single bug.

I know one of the big complaints people have is that the graphics weren't great, but honestly I've been blown away by the graphics a few times. If you zoom in on a wall it's going to look bad, sure, but in general gameplay the environment is fantastic.

The AI is pretty good, the enemies will react to changes in the battle. Some will charge you in desperation, some will flee. If things aren't going well for them, they'll fall back to regroup. They do tend to fall into somewhat predictable routines at times, but the varied enemy combat types keep it fresh.

The gunplay is excellent. It's an id game, so that should come as no surprise.

There are some downsides though. It seems like it tried to do too much. The racing mechanics aren't that great, and racing is forced on you at least a couple times in the game. Often the game feels more linear than it lets on, but I don't mind linear. For some reason, a few updates ago they decided to disable console commands, making this the first id game I can remember where you can't turn on god mode. I guess that's good or bad depending on your view of it, but I always liked to go on a rampage run after I'd finished a game, turning it up to nightmare difficulty and having a rocket-fest. Certainly not a show-stopper, but a strange decision from Carmack and Co. The story is probably the worst offender-- truth be told, there's very little story to it. Some games don't need story, but this one could have benefited from it.

Overall the game reminds me of a mix of Half-Life 2, Borderlands, Fallout 3, and Motorstorm, and in a very few cases it does better than these games, but trying to do too much they may have spread themselves thin. It never achieves the greatness of any of those games. It's fun, tons of fun, but it didn't quite gel into the perfect storm of post-apocalyptic greatness they were shooting for.

I don't know. It had years of development and a lot of hype, so I assume it was bound to get criticized more heavily than normal, but I think this is a fantastic game that is overly criticized, often for unfounded reasons. It isn't everything it's cracked up to be, but it's a ton of fun, and I can see myself replaying it years from now in the same way I do the early id games.

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/11/2012 at 02:10am

For me, you got it on the best platform, the PC. I pre-ordered this on the PS3 and was disappoint. The PS3 version does have spit-screen Legends of the Wasteland which is awesome to play with friends though. That said, the single player wasnt great as it took way too long to save and death was way too costly with so much save game load time. Since I suck at twitch shooter controls on controller, it was hard to kill guys and do well at the PS3 copy.

I played it on the PC and it was like a much better game for me. I could shoot people, quick save existed and loading didn't take forever. The graphics looked better and everything. I know they spent quite a long time on the PS3 copy and it reviewed well but in my experience it wasn't as good as the PC version.

That said, the game is fun but I think my expectations were too high for it to meet them all. Its a great game, no question, but my initial console experience and a few other niggly things left me liking it but not loving it.

Still haven't beat it yet, but its fun to play it off and on through time. Graphics look fantastic on the PC too.

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/28/2012 at 09:50pm

You beat Rage yet? I still have yet to do it as I am playing it a little bit at a time.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 05/29/2012 at 01:25pm

Haha, nope. Diablo 3 happened.

I was starting to get a little bored with it, though. I got to Subway Town and realized this was going to open up into an entirely new map that I had never seen yet, that I needed to race for a new car, etc etc... I feel like the game should be ramping up to a finish, but it's stepping backward to stuff I've already done in a different setting.

I guess it's just a pacing problem. After I have some time with Diablo 3 it will probably feel fresher.

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/29/2012 at 02:06pm

Yep. I'm in Subway town too and I have the same thoughts. Thing is I clocked 14 hours on my game to Subway town and it feels like it should be the end but it's not. Plus it's only been 14 hours and I've done everything I could.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 05/29/2012 at 02:13pm

Yeah, I felt the same way. Going back to Diablo 3, because I find it hard not to think about it lately, pacing is damned important. The pacing in Diablo 3 is so amazing. Rage making you kinda start over to a point is really, really not.

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/30/2012 at 01:27am

I agree. Kind of want to say more about Rage, but I am not sure how to approach it. Its the game I want to love but have a hard time expressing it.

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Well, it has happened. Bethesda has announced the Elder

Well, it has happened. Bethesda has announced the Elder Scrolls MMO.

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/05/03/elder-scrolls-online-announced-an-mmo-set-in-the-world-of-skyrim/

It has been rumored for months (years?) now, but we finally have confirmation.

It will be set 1000 years before the events of Skyrim, where Molag Bal is attempting to swallow up Tamriel into his plane of Oblivion. Looks interesting so far.

Guys. Holy crap. Its not like this is my first foray into

Guys. Holy crap. It's not like this is my first foray into Steam. I've been using it for simpler games for ages now, but I'm more into it since I'm playing more "serious" games on it.

But I *just* finally decided to see what pressing shift+tab to access the Steam community did. That thing is badass. You can get a full tabbed browser in your game as you're playing it.

Why had I never checked that out before?

Tungsten wrote on 04/27/2012 at 09:55pm

Ya, I've used it for all sorts of things. It's great. I usually just use it for the clock though.

Now that I think about it though, I've been alt-tabbing out of skyrim to look up console codes. Guess I don't need to do that anymore.

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/28/2012 at 12:29am

Good tip, I have Steam too but some of these in game key presses illude me.

shift+tab. Try to run that in my mind like a mantra.

SHIFT+TAB!

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/24/2014 at 03:24am

LOL You sound like me when I first discovered it. Tim was the first person to chat with me while I was playing Terraria. Then I was like, "whoa," because I had been saving my game and exiting Steam so that I could go check out the Terraria Wiki. Interesting stuff!

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/24/2014 at 04:50am

Wow, Travis seriously hit up Steam a year+ ago? Man, seems like a lot longer than that.

But yeah, that's about right for me too I suppose. Maybe two.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/24/2014 at 04:58am

I'm not sure how long I've been on Steam, I suspect that it's been less than a year. I found out that Portal was on Steam for free, so I created an account and tried it out. I thought the game was humorous, but the puzzle aspect of it had me feeling stupid, so I uninstalled it. Then, Travis gifted me Terraria, which is only the 2nd game I have on Steam. Otherwise, I tried a Ys demo. That's about it. It's kind of sad, I think, thinking of how I've had friends that have been on Steam much longer and have many more games in their library, but then it goes back to my whole, "I'm oblivious" idea when it comes to modern gaming.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 01/24/2014 at 05:08am

No, no, I've had it since the HL2 days, just barely using it. :)

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/24/2014 at 06:21am

Travis: Ah, yeah, me too but little compelled me back then I got some Bundles....

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If anyone hasnt played Dead Space 1 or 2 (I havent either),

If anyone hasn't played Dead Space 1 or 2 (I haven't either), it's really cheap right now on Steam. $10 for both!

http://store.steampowered.com/sale/2011_pre_dead_space

I just got a new PC capable of playing at least most of the

I just got a new PC capable of playing at least most of the current games out right now. I tried playing Oblivion (yes, Oblivion) on my old one and it stuttered too much to enjoy. I decided it was time for a change.

So, I'm really out of the loop when it comes to PC games. What have I missed over the past ... almost a decade? The last PC game I really sank a lot of time into was Half-Life 2, if that tells you anything.

I have Deus Ex: Human Revolution waiting for me, I'm going to replay the recent Bethesda games on PC so I can mess with the available mods, and I'm going to finally give Morrowind a fair shot. Anything else I should try?

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/24/2012 at 12:26am

So let me think here(ill post more as they come later).

* Lord of the Rings Online is interesting. Free to play, worth a look through.
* The Binding of Issac(see my earlier post about it)
* Cave Story+ (again,earlier post about it)
* Rage (ditto)
* Starcraft 2 (i have yet to post on this, add to my list of things to do :) It was great btw)

Thats all that comes to me. I am not the most hardcore of PC users, but I have been playing more lately.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 04/24/2012 at 03:34am

I'm not looking to get back into a grindfest MMO, but I may eventually give LotR Online a look. I have played Cave Story, not the plus version, but I own plus through one of the humble bundles. The Binding of Isaac sounds amazing, Rage is worth a look now that it is cheaper (it is sad that an I'd game didn't excite me enough for a day one purchase), and SC2 is definitely on my list. SC1 is the only RTS I have ever enjoyed.

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/24/2012 at 04:12am

If you dug SC1 then SC2 is a must buy. Its like everything you loved about the first amped up a bit. Story is stellar, gameplay is superb. A gem.

Rage is... Well Rage is fine. Its a beautiful shooter that makes a few mis-steps. The game should be balls to the walls action and killing but it gets bogged down in a throw away story that brings nothing to the table. The PS3 version is cool as you can play Legends of the Wasteland which is essentially split-screen co-op with a friend. If you don't do that, then get it on PC because the controls are WAY better on a PC. Its a twitch shooter so yeah, PC is the ticket.

LoTR online is a fine MMO, when the grind gets annoying you can step away. Thats the great part about F2P MMO's.

Tungsten wrote on 04/24/2012 at 10:29pm

It depends. PC's two biggest strengths now are Free to Play stuff like Tribes: Ascension, and DOTA, and stuff that pushes the console's capabilities like Crysis2, Skyrim, Witcher2 and so on.

The indy market is also awesome. Wait for an indy bundle (like humble bundle or indy royale) and you can drop like $5 and get a few decent games.

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/25/2012 at 01:07am

I agree, PC's strengths are in F2P and indie games. Hopefully PC's dont go away. In my lifetime anyway.

Tungsten wrote on 04/25/2012 at 01:56am

I'm actually downloading that Tribes:Ascend right now. This will be my intro to the series, but with the reviews I've been reading, I figured I really ought to give it a shot.

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/25/2012 at 05:11am

Played Tribes a while back. Fun multi-player shooter with jet packs. Don't remember much else. :)

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 04/25/2012 at 06:45pm

Tungsten, yeah, I've been all over those indie bundles, but it seems like they're coming too quickly lately. Seems like there's a new one every two weeks. Just give my wallet some time to cool off, m'kay Humble Bundle people?

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/26/2012 at 01:37am

Did you guys get the latest bundle? Seems ok, nothing that compelled me but I might be looking at it wrong.

Tungsten wrote on 04/26/2012 at 10:41am

skipped that one. I already had two of the games,

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 04/26/2012 at 08:37pm

Ditto, I skipped it. I tend to only get the big ones, because usually the small ones have some that they already gave you earlier.

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/26/2012 at 08:41pm

Haven't picked it up either. Prob just wait for the next one too :)

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This game is beautiful. A single playthrough wont take you

This game is beautiful. A single playthrough won't take you long, maybe 4 hours if you're really taking your time, but I intend to replay it quite a few times.

The visuals are beautiful. Coming from thatgamecompany, the people who gave us Flow and Flower, this is unsurprising. Movement is fluid, and the controls work exactly as you would expect.

The multiplayer aspect is the most interesting part, though. As you play you will be paired up with someone. You won't know their PSN ID until after you finish, you can't talk to them or send them messages. Your only form of communication is a visual and audible blip. Somehow, though, this works. As people disconnect, you'll lose them from your game and connect to someone else.

Once, toward the end of the game, I had been playing with the same person for about 45 minutes when they suddenly dropped. For just a few seconds, I was distraught. In that short time, with only bell sounds and flashy lights to communicate, I had gotten attached to this companion. It was only when I realized and examined this emotion that I shook it, because it was immediately replaced by amazement at what this simple little game had done.

Play it. That's all I can say. If you have a PS3, you need to play this.

Travis4

547 Posts

This game continues to amaze me. What follows is a somewhat

Im giving my wrist a rest. I had the day off today, and with

So, apparently there have been a lot of user accounts

Alright, here we go. Namwen#1800 if youre interested in

I think Im about halfway through Rage, and I have learned

Well, it has happened. Bethesda has announced the Elder

Guys. Holy crap. Its not like this is my first foray into

If anyone hasnt played Dead Space 1 or 2 (I havent either),

I just got a new PC capable of playing at least most of the

This game is beautiful. A single playthrough wont take you