Boy am I on a roll. I've got 3 months to Gamefly for Christmas. Now I'll be living it up with all the releases of 2009 (and catching up with 2008) through the best rental service to date as I hear.
www.gamefly.com
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Happy Holidays!
I don't know if you've noticed, but Christmas is upon us and most of us at the CSULB Gaming Club have put finals behind us and are on vacation so....
HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE OFFICERS AT GAMING CLUB!
There won't be an awful lot of new posts until school starts, but rest assured, I'm fanatical in my job as the club blogger.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE OFFICERS AT GAMING CLUB!
There won't be an awful lot of new posts until school starts, but rest assured, I'm fanatical in my job as the club blogger.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Fable II: Ooooh God! Are we there yet?
Fable II has some good things going for it. Combat is pretty fun with three distinct styles of combat: melee, ranged, and magic.
Problem is, I can't seem to bring myself to like it, much less play it.
The problem is that I've played lots of Bethesda games, which involve moral ambiguity. Fable II certainly has some fun aspects to it. Characters actually react to you depending on your image. Do they like and respect you, or cower in fear?
But I definitely hate some things, like the safety. Just like a gun, you have a safety that prevents accidental attacks on innocents... and I absolutely hate this damn safety. In Fallout 3, you didn't have a safety, and sure, accidentally killing someone you didn't mean to sucks. But that how it rolls in a game that plays up moral choices, even if it's a hilarious misfire you can simply laugh off with a dry, "Aaaah woops!"
Everytime I want to kill some innocent smuck, I have to turn off the safety. Sure I can leave it off, but the safeetyt option is appears as a shortcut on my d-pad, which I could use as space for other shortcuts like certain options while talking to people.
Also, it takes forever to do any one thing in Fable II. The thing I hate about the unskippable dialogue is that I'm in a third person view. I'm therefore, much less engaged to the conversations aimed at me. I also have trouble hearing the speech because the camera for some reason is not only my eyes, but my ears. So I have to swing the camera around someplace to just fucking hear them!
And there's not much to the questing besides kill x number of bad guys until everyone's hunky dorey. At least Fallout 3 gave me some conversational choices and stuff. Apparently Fable II is much more lawless then I first thought.
Problem is, I can't seem to bring myself to like it, much less play it.
The problem is that I've played lots of Bethesda games, which involve moral ambiguity. Fable II certainly has some fun aspects to it. Characters actually react to you depending on your image. Do they like and respect you, or cower in fear?
But I definitely hate some things, like the safety. Just like a gun, you have a safety that prevents accidental attacks on innocents... and I absolutely hate this damn safety. In Fallout 3, you didn't have a safety, and sure, accidentally killing someone you didn't mean to sucks. But that how it rolls in a game that plays up moral choices, even if it's a hilarious misfire you can simply laugh off with a dry, "Aaaah woops!"
Everytime I want to kill some innocent smuck, I have to turn off the safety. Sure I can leave it off, but the safeetyt option is appears as a shortcut on my d-pad, which I could use as space for other shortcuts like certain options while talking to people.
Also, it takes forever to do any one thing in Fable II. The thing I hate about the unskippable dialogue is that I'm in a third person view. I'm therefore, much less engaged to the conversations aimed at me. I also have trouble hearing the speech because the camera for some reason is not only my eyes, but my ears. So I have to swing the camera around someplace to just fucking hear them!
And there's not much to the questing besides kill x number of bad guys until everyone's hunky dorey. At least Fallout 3 gave me some conversational choices and stuff. Apparently Fable II is much more lawless then I first thought.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Rent Watch: Fable II
Just rented Fable II. It takes an immensely long time to get into and can get pretty tedious, but combat can be somewhat addictive as you mix and match different combination of attacks like time stopping magic and a barrage of arrows, or quick sword swipes with a roll back and lobbing fireballs.
Formal entry later.
Formal entry later.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Club Nintendo is EXCITEMENT
I have been a member on the Nintendo website since 2004. It says so on Club Nintendo when I migrated my account over to it.
If you don't already know about it, Club Nintendo has been a sweet deal in Japan to get awesome stuff you can't get anywhere else for being a loyal Nintendo consumer. You can get cool swag and even a unique game you can't get in stores!
If you're a member of the old Nintendo website and registered your games, or haven't done so but have saved the registration codes for all your Nintendo merchandise, get over to Club Nintendo and follow the instructions to earn your coins!
I'm already platinum thanks to my shopping impulses. I'm saving my 630 coins for when something cooler shows up on the rewards page (I already have the Game & Watch Collection from an import stand from Anime Expo).
If you don't already know about it, Club Nintendo has been a sweet deal in Japan to get awesome stuff you can't get anywhere else for being a loyal Nintendo consumer. You can get cool swag and even a unique game you can't get in stores!
If you're a member of the old Nintendo website and registered your games, or haven't done so but have saved the registration codes for all your Nintendo merchandise, get over to Club Nintendo and follow the instructions to earn your coins!
I'm already platinum thanks to my shopping impulses. I'm saving my 630 coins for when something cooler shows up on the rewards page (I already have the Game & Watch Collection from an import stand from Anime Expo).
Planar travels: To the Shadowfell
An alternate idea I have for traveling through the caverns would be an accidental misstep into the Shadowfell.
Minding your own business, an unfortunately step into a patch of darkness which turns out to be a active portal into the Shadowfell. This could be a replacement idea to what I was originally going for the original encounters to take place in.
While in the Shadowfell, you'd obviously want to find a way back. On your travels through the dark barren wasteland, you may run into a questionable looking caravan light by ominous green torches. Do you decide approach them for help, or avoid them in case they could be marauders?
Minding your own business, an unfortunately step into a patch of darkness which turns out to be a active portal into the Shadowfell. This could be a replacement idea to what I was originally going for the original encounters to take place in.
While in the Shadowfell, you'd obviously want to find a way back. On your travels through the dark barren wasteland, you may run into a questionable looking caravan light by ominous green torches. Do you decide approach them for help, or avoid them in case they could be marauders?
Monday, December 15, 2008
Gamesradar hands out best free games of 2008
Gamesradar, a favorite of mine for random lists and nonsense on video games, has produced a great list of cool small time developed games that you can play for free.
My personal fav that I'm on now is Bonesaw. Look at it's trailer and tell me it doesn't look awesome. It gives an homage to classic Kirby aesthetic designed levels. Always a plus.
My personal fav that I'm on now is Bonesaw. Look at it's trailer and tell me it doesn't look awesome. It gives an homage to classic Kirby aesthetic designed levels. Always a plus.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Manual of the Planes
I've recently spotted Manual of the Planes in the wild at my local Borders Express in my mall. Looks like an interesting get as it will further my ideas of inserting some planar environments into my campaigns like random portals and the monsters that inhabit such places.Expect to see some extra planar action sometime in the future!
Rock Band has sold!
Alright members! Rock Band: Special Edition has sold on eBay for a whopping $124.04! (S&H is roughly $41.04, so that's around $83 left.)
This money, is of course going to be best used for new stuff to bring to club (though I did invest a lot in Rock Band myself).
What do you think members? A new game or two? It's definitely going to get more dice and minis for D&D. Anything else?
This money, is of course going to be best used for new stuff to bring to club (though I did invest a lot in Rock Band myself).
What do you think members? A new game or two? It's definitely going to get more dice and minis for D&D. Anything else?
Friday, December 12, 2008
Huzzah! We're more unique then we were a few days ago!
We got ourselves a new email address, so not everyone knows what is essentially my personal email address! (Well, everyone must know it already anyways).
All emails are going to and from gamingclub@wycre.com now, courtesy of Valiance over at the CSULB Anime Club forums.
I've also started the Facebook group, in case anyone wants to stay in touch via Facebook.
Also, if you think you can make a better banner, try out our new email and send it over to gamingclub@wycre.com with subject line: Blog Banner.
Keep in mind that the width limit is 660 pixels. There's no limit to height, but keep in mind it'll stretch the amount of scrolling you'll have to do.
All emails are going to and from gamingclub@wycre.com now, courtesy of Valiance over at the CSULB Anime Club forums.
I've also started the Facebook group, in case anyone wants to stay in touch via Facebook.
Also, if you think you can make a better banner, try out our new email and send it over to gamingclub@wycre.com with subject line: Blog Banner.
Keep in mind that the width limit is 660 pixels. There's no limit to height, but keep in mind it'll stretch the amount of scrolling you'll have to do.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Just a quick note
There's no meeting next week on the 15th. That's because, while I may not get much studying done this weekend, I'll be using my down time between finals as prime time for studying...
so I guess, no meeting is the main idea of this bullet point.
Happy Holidays! See you next semester!NAVY SEALS MARINES!
so I guess, no meeting is the main idea of this bullet point.
Happy Holidays! See you next semester!
More spoilers: the deep, dank, and dark
Sorry, but another spoiler. I love them! My last one was on what you may fight. This time, I'll be going over what you'll be experiencing.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Know your lore #1: The underworm and the underdark
Time to understand what the hell I'm throwing at you. Party members might be wondering what exactly is going on, before forgetting why they were wondering about that when they need to face down some serious monsters.
Though Gears of War 2 had a hand in inspiring the layout, I swear I thought of this concept a few days before finding out about that level. At any rate...
The underworm is a massive creature that most scholars have never seen, let alone heard of. Because it lives underground as if it were the depths of the deepest seas, few have ever seen it in it's entirety.
It eats whatever it can swallow with it's maw. It'll even break down earth for the minerals when it can. It's digestive juices will break down anything, but the time it takes to do so varies from food to food.
It has a blowhole similar to cetaceans, which it uses to take in air whenever it's in short supply deep underground.
The underworm tends to be passive when it comes to food. It doesn't actively hunt per se, but it does employ ambush tactics and surprises to swallow most of it's prey whole.
Two main monster attractions within is the giant heart and the white blood cells.
The white blood cell is of course, the main bulk of self-defense within the underworm. Their first and most used tactic is to simply slide on their way, and engulf whatever is in it's path. If anything's left after it swallows one creature, it relies on slamming it's body, particular with the extra momentum of a victim, to subdue other intruders until it digests it's engulfed target.
The giant heart can't move, but it's has a long reach, and has a number of reaction mechanisms to protect itself from harm.
Just like the surface, the underground is brimming with life. Many communities are built underneath the sun's reach, and just like the surface, their are adventurers underground too. The most common adventurer underground is an explorer, usually a cave cartographer. One who makes a living charting the twisting pathways and caves so future travellers don't get lost or run into dangerous creatures. Lighting the darkest reaches are settlements meant to act as safe havens for these explorers, usually founded near an exit point to the surface.
Though Gears of War 2 had a hand in inspiring the layout, I swear I thought of this concept a few days before finding out about that level. At any rate...
The underworm is a massive creature that most scholars have never seen, let alone heard of. Because it lives underground as if it were the depths of the deepest seas, few have ever seen it in it's entirety.
It eats whatever it can swallow with it's maw. It'll even break down earth for the minerals when it can. It's digestive juices will break down anything, but the time it takes to do so varies from food to food.
It has a blowhole similar to cetaceans, which it uses to take in air whenever it's in short supply deep underground.
The underworm tends to be passive when it comes to food. It doesn't actively hunt per se, but it does employ ambush tactics and surprises to swallow most of it's prey whole.
Two main monster attractions within is the giant heart and the white blood cells.
The white blood cell is of course, the main bulk of self-defense within the underworm. Their first and most used tactic is to simply slide on their way, and engulf whatever is in it's path. If anything's left after it swallows one creature, it relies on slamming it's body, particular with the extra momentum of a victim, to subdue other intruders until it digests it's engulfed target.
The giant heart can't move, but it's has a long reach, and has a number of reaction mechanisms to protect itself from harm.
Just like the surface, the underground is brimming with life. Many communities are built underneath the sun's reach, and just like the surface, their are adventurers underground too. The most common adventurer underground is an explorer, usually a cave cartographer. One who makes a living charting the twisting pathways and caves so future travellers don't get lost or run into dangerous creatures. Lighting the darkest reaches are settlements meant to act as safe havens for these explorers, usually founded near an exit point to the surface.
Recap: 12/09/08
After a restful night in a cave, you return to the white dragon's corpse to prompt grave rob the shit out of it. Normandie takes 50 good dragon scales while Roc drains a good liter of dragon's blood. After a good while of looting, the aura of the former dragon which has diffused for a good while starts to appear as a bone chilling fog that congealed over their skin, freezing Roc and Tenma halfway.
After some additional tromping, they arrived at a campsite at a dead end of the cavern. Roc decides to stealth in and finds two snow bandits sleeping in a tent. After disarming them, Roc decides the only course of action is to wake them up, to which they respond by tackling him to the ground. After the group runs over and quickly pitied d'ose foos, the ground opened up from beneath them, dropping them into what appears to be water.
Of course, it wasn't water. Roc found out it was some sort of corrosive liquid and everyone started their creative solutions. Normandie got onto her floating disc, Drey flew out, while Yogi made like Micheal Phelps. Darius wasn't so lucky, but never fear! It's only a plot device!
After walking further into the gullet of some sort of giant beast, the party meets a Drow who tells them they are inside an underworm. They meet up with the eccentric, Farrus, who concocts a plan to escape the worm using the strength of the newly assembled adventurers. His former "helper," a dragonborn named Caius joins the party, and they begin their way to destroy the heart of the beast in order to make escaping out the maw easier.
After a lengthy but seemingly unchallenging battle, our adventurers escape out the maw with the help of Caius' strength opening it by himself. With a small dungeoneering check, Drey makes out a worn path and alongthe way, torches lighting the way in the underground. Our party stumbles onto a safe haven for underground cartographers.
After some additional tromping, they arrived at a campsite at a dead end of the cavern. Roc decides to stealth in and finds two snow bandits sleeping in a tent. After disarming them, Roc decides the only course of action is to wake them up, to which they respond by tackling him to the ground. After the group runs over and quickly pitied d'ose foos, the ground opened up from beneath them, dropping them into what appears to be water.
Of course, it wasn't water. Roc found out it was some sort of corrosive liquid and everyone started their creative solutions. Normandie got onto her floating disc, Drey flew out, while Yogi made like Micheal Phelps. Darius wasn't so lucky, but never fear! It's only a plot device!
After walking further into the gullet of some sort of giant beast, the party meets a Drow who tells them they are inside an underworm. They meet up with the eccentric, Farrus, who concocts a plan to escape the worm using the strength of the newly assembled adventurers. His former "helper," a dragonborn named Caius joins the party, and they begin their way to destroy the heart of the beast in order to make escaping out the maw easier.
After a lengthy but seemingly unchallenging battle, our adventurers escape out the maw with the help of Caius' strength opening it by himself. With a small dungeoneering check, Drey makes out a worn path and alongthe way, torches lighting the way in the underground. Our party stumbles onto a safe haven for underground cartographers.
D&D Ground Rules
I want to set some ground rules for future D&D sessions for my campaign that I feel should be under my reins but aren't.
- Memorize or at least, comepletely understand, your most used power. In most cases, this would mean your level 1 Daily power. PLEASE understand how it works so the game doesn't come to a screeching halt.
- For multi-enemy attacks such as blast or burst, I'll decide how many attack rolls you throw according to the power. For example, for Dragon Breath, the player breathes one huge blast of elemental energy, throwing one d20 to compare against each enemy's individual defense. Twin Strike is an example of two seperate, focused attacks using two attack rolls.
- For the Beast Master: I just want to make it clear. You and your pet share one pool of actions except for move actions. You each have one seperate move action to make use of the strategic value of having another creature on the field. Otherwise, the both of you share the same actions. The creature, afterall, doesn't do anything unless your firmly command it to do something.
- I'll begin taking your passive checks more seriously in describing your settings. Your active checks will further flesh out what you can see, feel, hear and so on.
- I'll begin enforcing the right of the DM's ironfirst more now that I've set these preliminary ground rules in place. Basically, if I declare anything, it's because I said so.
Friday, December 5, 2008
All the fun of a menacing voice saying silly things
Maxim got a hold of the man himself in order to get him to say things all us common people say... in a dastardly menacing voice.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Day change!
Hey everyone! Just a quick update. I need to change the meeting's day from Monday to either Tuesday or Wednesday because my Computers and Networks class will go from 6 - 8pm roughly. So what do you want? Tuesday or Wednesday?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)