Note: While I do discuss my feelings about the end of the Mass Effect trilogy, this post contains no spoilers. I make no such voucher for any comments that may or may not be left.
When I walked out of the last Lord of the Rings movie, I had a feeling that I seldom got from a movie but frequently got from books – that utterly satisfied and yet nostalgic feeling of ending.
This is a character background I wrote for AllianceLARP SF.
Currently working on learning some Python, both for my own interest and in hopes that it will prove useful in my career. I decided to start out working on a kind of old school text adventure game. The project is both fun and interesting and already I’ve learned quite a few things (aside from the little bit of Python that I’ve learned from it).
Oops, I missed a post. I bought a Kindle Fire and I was preoccupied with rooting it and playing with it last night and my blog (and SWTOR!) was sadly neglected. You’ll get a full Kindle Fire post later this week but for now, it’s back to the meme.
This is a tough one, because there are a lot of video game series that I have loved over the years. Elder Scrolls, Baldur’s Gate, Warcraft (the RTSes as well as the MMO), Civilization, Mass Effect, Fallout… but I think for the sheer number of games in a single series that I have loved, credit has to go to Ultima. While I did not love Ultima VIII, and Ultima Online was a disappointment (I did not play Ultima IX, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it), I deeply loved IV, VI and VII especially (ignoring Serpent Isle) and enjoyed the rest quite a bit (yes, even Ultima Underworld). I think I played the third one on the NES first; I later played through the entire series when the Ultima Collection was released. I was quite sad when I upgraded my computer and couldn’t play through the collection any more – it wasn’t compatible with the DOS emulator on WinXP.
Ultima VII was by far my favorite Ultima game. It was big and expansive, with player choices and consequences, crafting, rich story, etc. I probably played it all the way through 3 or 4 times.
Originally published here.
So, there are several games that could qualify for this one, especially if I count games that I’ve tested. But like I’ve said before, testing is not playing. Even setting that aside, there are several choices; in the end, I settled on one of my favorites, Mass Effect. Of the two so far, while ME2 had somewhat better mechanics, I think ME1 had a far better and more cohesive story. Of course I had to do at least two playthroughs (and I will probably do a third) for each game, to experience both the Paragon and Renegade storylines. I think Jennifer Hale is awesome and will forever be my Commander Linnea Shepard regardless of the role she’s playing.
Originally published here.
As one of my resolutions this year was to blog more often, I thought I’d start the year out with something relatively simple: a meme. A variant on the popular ’30 Days of Movies’ meme, this will be 30 Days of Video Games.
Without a doubt, this is Skyrim. Although I’ve set it aside for a time in favor of Star Wars, it is still by far the best game I played last year. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only who thinks so, considering how much amazing fan art, music, mods and memes (arrow in the knee?) the game has inspired.
Skyrim is, in fact, kinda metal:
It is also pretty epic:
Be back tomorrow, with Day 2: a game that I’ve played all the way through at least twice.
Originally published here.
The Scimitar of Baron Slaying +3
Best part are the augments:
Know-It-All Learn all the rules. Even the really obscure ones. +30% Sense of Self-Importance.
Space Geek Memorise quotes from fictional science plays. +90% Damage vs Space Elves
Oh, The Irony Try desperately hard to make fun of stereotypes. -50% Self Awareness.
Originally published here.
Oh, blog… I owe you a post. After all these weeks (months even!) of neglect it should be the best post ever, crafted with love and attention and care.
But that’s not what you get.
Instead you get a hella weak “what I’ve been playing” post because I’m tired and I want to make sure I write something even if it’s not very substantial.
So if you’re still with me, here it is:
Obviously I checked out a few upcoming titles at E3 (playing demos of some of them, looking at trailers and gameplay for others); here are a couple of the highlights.
Star Wars: the Old Republic
This one I was really looking forward to and I waited in line for about 3 hours for the 10 minute video and 15 minute playable demo. I played a Sith Inquisitor Assassin (I was more interested in the Sorceror spec but that was already taken) and honestly, it felt like playing a magicky sort of rogue in WoW. I am disappoint; the game feels very much like WoW with a Star Wars skin, and as I’ve said before, I’d rather be playing a Mass Effect MMO, so if it’s gonna be WoW with an SF skin, it should be Mass Effect. Maybe the story and content will make up for my disappointment with the gameplay, but we’ll see. For now, though, I agree with this guy.
I’ve had my breakfast and my coffee and my shower, so I guess it’s time to get my E3 wrap-up under way.
We didn’t go for the full day because we had a long drive ahead of us. Probably a good thing we left early anyway, as I heard there was some sort of bomb threat or something (but I can’t find any news about it now so I don’t know – just something one of my travel companions reported to me as we were driving up I5 heading back to the Bay Area).
I will do more of a write-up on my thoughts and impressions on the various sights when I’m feeling less tired/more coherent but for now you get picspam.