"The Innistrad and Dark Ascension sets showed us a world where humanity is beset on all sides by monsters, including vampires, zombies, and werewolves. Avacyn, a living covenant whose angelic powers protected humans, was imprisoned within the Helvault and feared lost forever. But just as humanity's darkest hour beckons, Avacyn is freed, inspiring hosts of angels to usher in a new dawn. But even though they no longer have the upper hand, the creatures of the night are still a dangerous threat. The eternal struggle on Innistrad continues in this thrilling conclusion."
I have loved Magic since high school. In recent years I have started playing more and more as I hang out... Read All
"The Innistrad and Dark Ascension sets showed us a world where humanity is beset on all sides by monsters, including vampires, zombies, and werewolves. Avacyn, a living covenant whose angelic powers protected humans, was imprisoned within the Helvault and feared lost forever. But just as humanity's darkest hour beckons, Avacyn is freed, inspiring hosts of angels to usher in a new dawn. But even though they no longer have the upper hand, the creatures of the night are still a dangerous threat. The eternal struggle on Innistrad continues in this thrilling conclusion."
I have loved Magic since high school. In recent years I have started playing more and more as I hang out with other adult geeks now. A few weeks back I was camping for a friends birthday and we played many a hand of Magic. I re-instated my love of Magic a few years back during the awesome Shadowmoor expansion.
Taking my love for the game a step further as this Friday(4/27) a friend and I are going to Red Castle Games in Portland for a midnight sealed tournament.
As I have nipped back into Magic I have built up a few decks I like playing with. One of my go to decks is a White/Blue flyer/lock down deck. I also have a few dueling decks. I like the dueling decks because they are balanced to not have one be that much better than the other. As it goes, if two players are evenly matched in skill no one should have an advantage save the randomness of the shuffle.
The dueling decks I like playing right now are a Knights and Dragons deck. As ive played a few hands with it as the Dragons and I have been bested every time. The Knights seem very powerful and the Dragons haven't one a hand yet. Ill keep playing it, perhaps I am playing the deck wrong.
Excited about Avacyn restored and my first Magic release party. If you want more information on this expansion in depth I have compiled some awesome links to the Magic site that go really in depth about the expansion and focus on its art direction.
The pictured card in the post above is the limited edition card attendees of the midnight event will all receive. Cool they reserve these limited edition cards for the hardcore fans!
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 01/24/2014 at 03:27am
Awesome! I have had a copy of the Microprose PC version for a while. It seems the CD isn't readable anymore, so I...well, I found a way around that. It's still fun and addictive to play. I did get the 2013 version of Magic on the PS3, but I must admit it's been a year since I've played it. Still, going back to the Microprose version, I love it, even though it pretty much just contains older cards and I always choose to play with a random deck. I was playing that for a while before I some how managed to get myself away from it. =) Oh and I still have some MTG cards.
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So I just picked up the Far Cry movie at the dollar store for ... a dollar.
I know there is no way this can be good, but for a buck ill buy pretty much any video game movie. Too bad they didn't have the original Street Fighter with Jean Claude or the Super Mario Brothers Movie.
Let you know how my viewing turns out.
Another tidbit, it is a Uwe Boll movie. Even better.
So I just picked up the Far Cry movie at the dollar store for ... a dollar.
I know there is no way this can be good, but for a buck ill buy pretty much any video game movie. Too bad they didn't have the original Street Fighter with Jean Claude or the Super Mario Brothers Movie.
Let you know how my viewing turns out.
Another tidbit, it is a Uwe Boll movie. Even better.
You know Uve Boll movies are going to be entertaining. They may be terrible, but they're terrible in a way that you can laugh at the movie and really enjoy yourself.
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?
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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... Read All
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.
This seems really interesting to me. They seem to offer a really great co-op experience part in by making it mostly anonymous. I also like the focus on less of traditional "game mechanics" and more on the feel and emotion of the progression.
Travis Admin Post Author
wrote on 04/24/2012 at 03:27am
The feel and emotion of the progression, that's the perfect way of putting it. I won't spoil it for you but there's a part close to the end that really makes you feel like you are physically struggling. It's so deep for such a simple game.
Now that the Diablo 3 beta weekend is over what did you like or dislike? Will you buy the game before launch on May 15th?
For me this was the first time I have ever played the Diablo franchise. I have to say for people new to the game but love any of the Blizzard IPs this is something that is very simple to pickup and can be played by anyone. I am looking forward to the harder modes and playing with friends. I like the Battle.net integration. I have many friends in WoW and going to be able to chat and play with them is going to be great. Only down side I have heard about is that if your computer that can play WoW it might not play D3. I have heard of this from several... Read All
Now that the Diablo 3 beta weekend is over what did you like or dislike? Will you buy the game before launch on May 15th?
For me this was the first time I have ever played the Diablo franchise. I have to say for people new to the game but love any of the Blizzard IPs this is something that is very simple to pickup and can be played by anyone. I am looking forward to the harder modes and playing with friends. I like the Battle.net integration. I have many friends in WoW and going to be able to chat and play with them is going to be great. Only down side I have heard about is that if your computer that can play WoW it might not play D3. I have heard of this from several people in my guild. I guess that will make the graphic card manufactures happy.
I can’t wait. This is going to be a fun game to play through. I am a big lore nut and the story was very interesting to me. Great job Blizz, counting the days.
Well, tons of old PC's can play WoW. I'm not sure what the specs are for D3, but Blizzard usually seems to push a lot of beautiful graphics through older hardware.
I'm really looking forward to this, and I'm angry with Blizz for scheduling the open beta for a weekend when I was out of town.
Diablo 3 was very easy to pick up and play. I pre-ordered it but I have to wait perhaps a day for it to arrive so I won't be online day of the drop.
The graphics seemed great but I imagine, like Starcraft 2, you can run them tuned WAY down to play the game at least. Won't be awesome but I imagine it would be fun.
Looking around, it looks like you can get the client now and have it pre-installed. You can then upgrade to the CE whenever you actually get your box in... at least that's how a few people posting here and there think it's going to work. It should be activated under your battle.net account, just because you have a WoW annual pass anyway. Check there for your link.
"We all know the students at MIT love a good hack, but what’s better than playing a game while doing it? Last night, a team took over the side of MIT’s Green Building and turned it into a giant, playable, multi-color Tetris game."
Cool people take the time to do this kind of awesomery. I wonder how long this takes? I imagine you have a few planning meetings before you start it.
New web show called TableTop... This is actually episode 2 about Settlers of Catan.
New web show called TableTop... This is actually episode 2 about Settlers of Catan.
I'm pretty sure everyone on this site knows who Link is, and who Zelda is, but, here's a chick dressed up as Link playing a rad medley of songs from the Zelda theme. Beautifully shot as well. Enjoy!
I'm pretty sure everyone on this site knows who Link is, and who Zelda is, but, here's a chick dressed up as Link playing a rad medley of songs from the Zelda theme. Beautifully shot as well. Enjoy!
I like how energetic she is. Im not sure I could be that happy without a coat playing an instrument in snow. Then again, she is a Kokiri so they might have a different temperature than humans do.
I write this to you Saturday night 4/21 and the Diablo 3 free weekend stress test beta is not available because they are rebooting servers. Error 301 abounds. That said, I did get on today with a few other Cheerful Ghost users. My thoughts on the game thus far in no particular order:
Right away I want to say the game and its user interface are extremely polished. Everything I thought to do in regard to chatting with other users in game or asking them to join my game was intuitive. After I started a chat with a person, simply hitting enter continued it. Click on a persons name sent them a private message independently. When something happened for the first time in game,... Read All
I write this to you Saturday night 4/21 and the Diablo 3 free weekend stress test beta is not available because they are rebooting servers. Error 301 abounds. That said, I did get on today with a few other Cheerful Ghost users. My thoughts on the game thus far in no particular order:
Right away I want to say the game and its user interface are extremely polished. Everything I thought to do in regard to chatting with other users in game or asking them to join my game was intuitive. After I started a chat with a person, simply hitting enter continued it. Click on a persons name sent them a private message independently. When something happened for the first time in game, it let me know what was happening and I could learn more information if I wanted. The game is polished to a detail few games are and it really shows.
My first character was a female Barbarian as I don't typically play tank and I figured for the Beta I would go with the classes I won't play when the game launches May 15th. The barb character was so much fun to play. Blizzard nailed the play style of the Barbarian such that you really feel like the biggest badass on the screen. Hitting a enemy often tosses it off the screen only to have it scurry back for you do pummel into oblivion. The Barbarian also had a special attack akin to warstomp in Warcraft III that stunned all enemies around you. I kept wanting to leap into the fray and pummel everything and the game let me do it.
One other element I really enjoyed was the destructible environments. As I neared the end playing in my second session I would smash up everything I could just for fun. Watching a tombstone fly apart is so satisfying. The only other game I have enjoyed causing so much environment destruction was Red Faction Guerrilla.
Pro-tip: If you see an old table in a dungeon with things atop it step right up... Hold shift and left click. Awwww yeah, watch it fly apart.
Pro-tip 2: When you go deeper in the dungeon you will notice elaborate candle holders and statues. Hold shift and left click. They don't make em like they used too apparently.
The class I was the most impressed with was the Witch Doctor the class I plan to play at launch. The zombie dogs and spiders were awesome to watch. The spiders used to explode after you toss them but now they swarm up and attack enemies and die out quickly. Dogs + Spiders and a pretty hefty mob count lend for a really awesome time.
I am excited to get the game and was happy they opened the beta up this weekend. Clearly they needed to allow a stress test because when I first entered the beta the lag was pretty terrible. All day today it was all but impossible to get on for hours at a time. A friend was playing on his MacBook and it crashed on him a few times. Hopefully Blizzard can work out these kinks before launch.
I don't consider the above to be a huge deal as its a stress test. I did have a few sort of quibbles about the game thus far though:
Compared to Diablo 2 the game is more accessible. I don't mean this as a slight as much as a description. No more configurable skill tree means the classes are a smidge more on rails. Whereas I don't mind that too much, its not what old D2 players or frankly I was expecting. Since I only experienced a limited start to the game my hope is the skill tree and runes really showcase some fantastic combinations later on. I wonder if this simplicity will impact replay-ability? The final game will tell in this regard.
The game kind of feels like Warcraft 3 or World of Warcraft. I thought Starcraft 2 felt a little Warcrafty as well. Its not horrible modern Blizzard games feel Warcrafty but it is something I notice. Starcraft 2 had the Ghost Tosh that was basically a Troll Shaman. He even had a similar voodoo man voice. Voodoo in space? I guess. Diablo 3 now has a Witch Doctor as well. I only say this because all modern Blizzard games seems to be tonally similar to each other now. Again, I go back and forth if this is a bad thing because the games themselves are so good. Just a note really.
The art style, whereas very beautiful didn't totally win me over the first time I was presented with it. After existing in the world for a while I found it to be eerie and beautiful. Often times the colors were a bit too dark and I found I really liked it when the game presented a more vibrant color set. For instance the Cathedral around the meteor impact crater. I mused with the people in my party that the impact was Auriel being thrown out of heaven or some such. Be cool to see how the story actually turns out. Maybe the meteor was Superman as a baby and Diablo 3 now joins the ranks of so many cross-over video games?
I like that everyone gets their own instanced drops. Often times with co-op you stop fighting to collect the loot because if you don't you often times don't get anything. Making it so everyone gets their own stuff allows you to collect after the battle. A nice touch. Its also simple to drop what you collect for other people in your group if you get something you don't need.
All in all I am very excited to play the final game. Having the game present more of a challenge and deeper character options will be welcomed. I thank Blizzard for giving everyone a chance to join the beta before launch, it was a cool thing to do.
My thought on the skill trees: Blizzard went in talking about how the new system could make the classes much more customizible, and I get the sense that that could be a distinct possibility. They brought up the idea of a tank wizard, that with the right choices and equipment, it would be an option.
In Diablo2, every class was kind of set on rails. Sure, you could be an ice mage, a fire mage, or a storm mage, but that's about as far as it went. My barbarian could use hammers instead of swords. While it seemed to offer more choices, each choice didn't greatly affect the gameplay. (Except, maybe, for a golem necro or the druid. I did get the feeling that those "builds" were a little different) If Blizzard can open up these classes a bit and let us create vastly different builds from the same skills, I'm all for it.
Oh, and I went an pre-purchased it today.
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 04/23/2012 at 12:30am
Yeah, I hear you! If thats what we can do then I am down. Runes give me hope but I'm not really sure how that will go because the demo wasn't too telling.
Awesome you pre-ordered, looking forward to the 15th.
How is the single vs. multiplayer? I know on D2 you could do both, since not everyone had always-on internet at the time. Can you play a character in single player and take it online like before?
It's all the same thing now. Everything is online. Sorry, no offline available. Oh, and there's PvP now, so that'll be interesting.
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 04/24/2012 at 12:22am
PVP seems to be shipping after launch.
Diablo 3 is now, basically, all online on Battle.net. You don't have to play with friends, but the UI is streamlined such that getting people in a game is dead simple.
Some people don't like the online only component of the game. I am fine with it as I go between Windows and Mac often and having my saves travel with me will be great. Alternatively I am not sure why they do certain things like limit your saves on battle.net to 10 though.
This certainly isn't a showstopper for me. I still really look forward to it. Maybe they will have another open beta weekend!
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 04/24/2012 at 04:09am
I hope so but it seems somewhat doubtful as May 1st they are stopping the beta entirely for the May 15th launch. Sucks though, id love to give my female Monk another go.
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 04/24/2012 at 04:54am
I just tried logging into the beta. No dice.
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I just watched this movie on onDemand today. I have to say that the Geek/Nerd in me was brought out in full force the entire time I watched it. Morgan Spurlock the creator of great documentaries such as "Supersize Me" completly encapsulated the essence of the con and what it means to a lot of people. I have been to several other conventions but this is somthing I would like to attend once in my life.
I highly sugest a view to anyone who is a "Geek" or "Nerd" of anything
I just watched this movie on onDemand today. I have to say that the Geek/Nerd in me was brought out in full force the entire time I watched it. Morgan Spurlock the creator of great documentaries such as "Supersize Me" completly encapsulated the essence of the con and what it means to a lot of people. I have been to several other conventions but this is somthing I would like to attend once in my life.
I highly sugest a view to anyone who is a "Geek" or "Nerd" of anything
Awesome! I have had a copy of the Microprose PC version for a while. It seems the CD isn't readable anymore, so I...well, I found a way around that. It's still fun and addictive to play. I did get the 2013 version of Magic on the PS3, but I must admit it's been a year since I've played it. Still, going back to the Microprose version, I love it, even though it pretty much just contains older cards and I always choose to play with a random deck. I was playing that for a while before I some how managed to get myself away from it. =) Oh and I still have some MTG cards.