Random Thoughts

[Dutch]

Not sure actually, but I'm sure that's a picture of the Brown Gate Bridge...

Oh sure, moan about it now, you didn't have any complaints then!

Ah thats why those Yanks call 'em Brownies...now I understand....

Puts a whole new perspective to the concept of Skid Row as well......

 

[ZoraxDoom]

It's 4:30 AM and I'm in the library and nowhere close to finishing off my Heat Transfer syllabus for the final exam in a couple of days. And have one on the 23rd that needs studying for too.

University is fun.

 

[pcfan123]

It's just some random rock

It's going good. San Francisco is great. Tahoe even better. Made 800 playing cards and managed to spend it all 2 nights in San Fran

 

[puddleduck]

It's just some random rock

It's going good. San Francisco is great. Tahoe even better. Made 800 playing cards and managed to spend it all 2 nights in San Fran

Did you not take the picture because it looks like an arse then? How dissapointing haha

Weather looks lovely (apart from the bridge) how was the bud?

 

[Manly]

It's just some random rock

It's going good. San Francisco is great. Tahoe even better. Made 800 playing cards and managed to spend it all 2 nights in San Fran

Where did you find time to make 800 playing cards?!

 

[puddleduck]

I actually thought that when I first read it, thought Mark had gone for a vacation in some kind of labour camp

 

[Chewie]

Anyone else playing diablo 3?

 

[pcfan123]

love the weather out here.

San Fran is super expensive. Friend's place is 2 bedroom 1 bathroom. $3500 a month.

 

[puddleduck]

Anyone else playing diablo 3?

Out of principle I'm currently refusing to buy it. They have set a disgusting precedent for the future of single player games with their glorified DRM and focus on being able to create a continuous cash stream revenue from their customers.

However, despite me saying all this, a very good mate of mine has spent each of the last few nights telling me to get involved because he wants to co-op it with me I sort of would rather see how Torchlight 2 turns out, and if it's just as/almost as good I would rather they got my money.

When we can't play our own games anymore, except when the publisher decides we can, it'll be a dark day and the success of Diablo 3 despite some quite nasty design decisions will have played a leading role in creating that rather draconian future

 

[CG123]

Anyone else playing diablo 3?

I got a guest past off my brother, and finished up to where that allows you to play up to pretty easily. Imo it definitely wasn't as good as Diablo 2 was back in the day, i.e. I'm not going to go out and buy it or anything. It had a real WoW feel about it, just the way the towns were set-up and stuff, and I didn't like it how it pretty much held your hand as you went through the start of the game, telling you exactly how to do every quest (I'm not sure if that continues later on). I liked Diablo 2 because while it had a strong storyline, it still allowed you to go off on your own with most areas being open, unlike D3 where you seem to pretty much just be following a path the whole time (at least at the start I was). Don't get me wrong I still though it was a good game and I enjoyed my few hours or so playing it, but I it didn't live up to as good as I thought it would be.

@ puddleduck - You can still play easily play single player, you just don't make your game public. Although I think you still need to have an internet connection. I played the first part myself.

 

[puddleduck]

I got a guest past off my brother, and finished up to where that allows you to play up to pretty easily. Imo it definitely wasn't as good as Diablo 2 was back in the day, i.e. I'm not going to go out and buy it or anything. It had a real WoW feel about it, just the way the towns were set-up and stuff, and I didn't like it how it pretty much held your hand as you went through the start of the game, telling you exactly how to do every quest (I'm not sure if that continues later on). I liked Diablo 2 because while it had a strong storyline, it still allowed you to go off on your own with most areas being open, unlike D3 where you seem to pretty much just be following a path the whole time (at least at the start I was). Don't get me wrong I still though it was a good game and I enjoyed my few hours or so playing it, but I it didn't live up to as good as I thought it would be.

@ puddleduck - You can still play easily play single player, you just don't make your game public. Although I think you still need to have an internet connection. I played the first part myself.

The loot drops are broken, the game has already had hackers exploting people's accounts, and my point about the single player, is that no single player game should require an always online internet connection.

This is the sort of game I would want to have on my laptop and take with me to play for a bit when I go to visit family/go away somewhere random/journeys etc... and I find it appalling that if their servers are down, my internet is down, or they decide to cut support, I can no longer play their game.

It's a shocking glimpse of the future, and the fact so many people bought it and then moaned about it, means that the figures will tell the publishers it's a viable business model. Until they sort out the sham of the launch and the blatant disregard for their consumers in exchange for fairly obvious exploitation of those consumers financially... in the words of a Dragon... I'm out

 

[Chewie]

Yea that part is pretty annoying, especially because the servers I connect to are in the US so I get ridiculous ping sometimes and rubberband everywhere.

 

[puddleduck]

Exactly, absolute disgrace, as when you're on the proper hard difficulties that will be the difference between dying in difficult bosses. My internet can be pretty flakey, so to think that a game I would currently have to spent ?40 on to play will not even work all the time is just unfathomable. They're doing themselves a lot of damage as a brand at the moment Blizzard, and though it won't matter now, it's the sort of thing that eventually has a knock on effect with future sales... Still, at least they'll have an auction house they can make money from

Torchlight 2 is actually looking pretty good, and I think I may just get that instead for my click-clicky loot 'em up. Not to mention for loot games there is Borderlands 2 coming out this year which I can't wait to do some serious co-op on

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Also, it'll get cracked and someone will figure out how to make it run on some kind of vitual server. I do not pirate games, but if that happens I will potentially buy it and then at least be able to just play it at all times.

Really does just ask the hackers to target them

 

[CG123]

Fair enough, tbh I was actually surprised when I heard that there was no offline single player like you're wanting.

 

[puddleduck]

Yeah most people were. The fact it has been so successful is what worries me as this could become the norm, and let's be honest there's gonna be no one better and with more experience in the field of persistent online gaming. Blizzard are the market leaders with WoW (which I've never actually played or been interested in mind) so if they can do this and still cock it up, what's gonna happen if everyone starts doing it.

One day, if the internet is reliable and fast this would be acceptable, but at the moment, it just alienates anyone without access to a reliable connection, or are located in the right places in the world.

How did you find the trial? The worst part of all this, I'll probably buy it next week and then have to cry myself to sleep because I've no longer got any principles haha