So, what're you playing?

[Xilren's Twin]

Picked up Blackguards yesterday and started a game.  Haven't gotten very far, which is good since it is looking like a restart is in my near future, but there's some real potential there.

I was super pumped about this. Love the setting, love Das Schwarze Auge and loved the hex map turn based game! The... voice acting killed this one for me so far. It didn't kill the game actually, but it murdered the atmosphere to the point I wasn't caring about anything anymore after 10 minutes.Intro movie is great, THEN your character starts talking and everything goes to hell. Sigh.

I am currently playing the hell out of Blackguards and enjoying it, in spite of the horrible voice acting and plot.  The tactical combat is fun and some of the set piece battlefields are nice with usable objects and such, but this game ain't easy.  I picked a mage character as my first and i honestly dont know how you could get through the early part of the game without 2 of them for the ranged damage and more importanly, healing.  Some of the chained fights can be brutal since you have no chance to regain health and mana but im still plugging away.  You are often outnumbered and learning the tricks of a given battlefield may require several tries.  But i like the challenge.  Im up to day 3 of the "9 hordes" gladiator thing, and have 5 characters - me (mage), plus the dwarf fighter, half elf archer, fop mage, and barbaian spear fighter.

Some of the rpg mechanics are pretty arcane or well hidden, and i never feel like i have any AP to spare,  but im glad i picked this up on the steam sale.  Oh yeah, the dev's did a IAMA on reddit and gave out like 40000 keys one of their Dark Eye adventure games on GOG, so i grabbed one and will try that sooner or later.

[Ingmar]

Steam keeps choking on letting me download the demo of Blackguards. Not willing to take the risk on the jank without the demo first!

[Signe]

I downloaded it yesterday and it stopped responding three times before I got it.  I started playing and then I got all buggered up and I have to start a new game now.  Bleh.  It looks fun, at least the 20 mins I played it.  I kind of like this trend towards old school rpgs with updated graphics and other bits.  I'd probably enjoy it more with a new computer with a proper monitor or on a console... I MIGHT try it on that Big Picture thingy so I can use the TV screen.  I'm SO over playing on this 11 inch screen.  Everything is so tiny.  The only problem with the Big Screen thingy is that when I use the keyboard, I have to keep my laptop open and then I have two screens and I get dizzy and disoriented.  It's okay if the game can be set up to use a controller, though.  I have so many problems.  Why is everything so hard? 

[Lantyssa]

You can plug a normal keyboard and mouse into a laptop's USB ports and use those.  It's what I do with my work laptop in fact.

[Stormwaltz]

Steam keeps choking on letting me download the demo of Blackguards.

I downloaded it yesterday and it stopped responding three times before I got it.

I've had a LOT of problems lately trying to get Steam to download updates. It often takes 10-20 minutes for it to stop idling and actually download something.

I thought it was just "internet being weird" but maybe there's something systematic systemic.

EDIT: Fixing my moronic typo.

[Paelos]

It's something. It happened in an update about 3 months ago where I noticed it not updating right away. Not sure what they changed but I'm guessing it's throttling something.

[Signe]

You can plug a normal keyboard and mouse into a laptop's USB ports and use those.  It's what I do with my work laptop in fact.

Yes, but I don't have a keyboard.  I had an awesome one but I gave it away.  :(  I have a really bad habit of giving useful things away.  I guess I could buy one of those cheapy ones for a tenner or something.  Maybe I could swap this mouse I have for a nice keyboard.  It's a Logitech and has a million buttons.  My fingers find it impossible to make it work properly. 

[calapine]

Yes, but I don't have a keyboard.  I had an awesome one but I gave it away.  :(  I have a really bad habit of giving useful things away.  I guess I could buy one of those cheapy ones for a tenner or something.  Maybe I could swap this mouse I have for a nice keyboard.  It's a Logitech and has a million buttons.  My fingers find it impossible to make it work properly.  

That one?

I have it too - and it really like the buttons - but it's like holding a brick. Can't get used to it and now downgraded to a Zowie FK with just 2 side-buttons.   Much more comfortable to use though...

[Signe]

Yes, it's like that one only black.  I have a Razor Naga now that I think schild recommended and it's a bit easier although it slows my laptop down a bit.  I think I might have to remove all the software that came with it.  That booster program does temporarily disable a lot of the processes I don't need for gaming but the program itself, along with the Synapse program, makes me slow.  I think the Logitech with the two side buttons would suit me more anyway.  I broke my right arm and shoulder a couple of years ago and ever since I've had problems finding the right mouse.  I used a Logitech with two side buttons for AGES before but it I broke it.  Instead of all the expensive experimenting, I should have just replaced it with the same thing.  D'oh! 

[Threash]

Playing Blackguards.  A lot.  Fun game with good old timey turn based combat and character building.  Biggest complain so far: the pre made characters are better than the ones you can create on your own and are able to use skills/equipment not available and character creation.  That really annoys me for some reason.

[Zetor]

Yep, just finished chapter 1 in Blackguards after ~10h of playtime. Really solid game... and considering that there are 5 chapters and ch1 is just the short-ish / super-linear 'intro' that is also used for the demo, I'm pretty pumped. So far the jankiness was limited to a random lock-up during combat and the icons for the empty helm / boots slots swapped on the character screen (which is kinda  ). The battles are a bit puzzle-like, but I don't mind.

Also, apparently Might&Magic X AND Paper Sorcerer were both released on steam this week along with Banner Saga last week, not to mention the SRR Berlin expansion coming in two weeks or so... it's christmas all over again. If only the Great CRPG Revival Of 2014 had the decency to wait until I actually had some free time to play... /sadf

[Signe]

I'm playing with it as well.  I like that it can be tough, too.  I'm not quite finished with Chapter One but I game slow so this sort of thing will last me a long time - which is good!

[Quinton]

Decided to give the Blackguards Demo a look.  Fun so far (just a few battles in, picking up quests at the second town you visit).  Does anybody know if the savegame from the demo carries over to the full game or if you start over?

The voice acting isn't that bad!  Kinda cheesy in places, to be sure, but not unbearable (and you can click past the more annoying characters if need be).

[Signe]

I hate my voice in the game.  Luckily, there's subtitles so I can listen to music instead while I play.  My problem is finding music that goes with a turn based game.  Chris Barnes and D.R.I. don't work.  I think I have to pick a new genre.  I don't know about carrying over saves but maybe because when I dl'd the actual game, it over wrote the demo.  When I got the game, I used advanced and made my own character.

[Xilren's Twin]

Yep, just finished chapter 1 in Blackguards after ~10h of playtime. Really solid game... and considering that there are 5 chapters and ch1 is just the short-ish / super-linear 'intro' that is also used for the demo, I'm pretty pumped. So far the jankiness was limited to a random lock-up during combat and the icons for the empty helm / boots slots swapped on the character screen (which is kinda  ). The battles are a bit puzzle-like, but I don't mind.
Also, apparently Might&Magic X AND Paper Sorcerer were both released on steam this week along with Banner Saga last week, not to mention the SRR Berlin expansion coming in two weeks or so... it's christmas all over again. If only the Great CRPG Revival Of 2014 had the decency to wait until I actually had some free time to play... /sadf

Paper sorcerer was a nice little throwback game - very much like the old Wizardry 4 in that your character is the evil wizard who was imprisoned by heroes and has to escape his dungeon, recovering his powers, summoning minions, and battling various hero classes to do so.  Plot gets a little nonsensical but it's easily worth the $5 i paid for it.

Oh and in Blackguards is a cautionary tale about mixing recreational drug use and gladiatorial combat - Just Say No kids.  Alas poor Niam, at least your poor sister with the frontal lobotomy wont miss you...

[Signe]

Today I messed around with the Planet Explorers alpha.  YOU NEED TO CHECK THIS ONE OUT, XANTHI!  I don't know what the hell I'm doing and there's not a lot of info about it yet, but it looks as if it's going to be crafting heaven.  You can make hover bikes and big guns!  Like Minecraft, it has a story, adventure and building mode.  I'm going to mess with building until I suss this what I hope is a gem in the very very rough. 

[Jeff Kelly]

I'm still playing Final Fantasy V and VI and it's interesting to see just how much RPGs have evolved since then. It tool me a while for example to get re-acquainted with the grinding aspect of those RPG. I hadn't done that in a while.

I actually like Five more than Six. Six introduces so many different characters that it's hard to feel any sort of attachment for them and it also has the less interesting combat system so far. Since I haven't reached even the first Esper I don't know if this will change the equation but so far the combat options are so limited that you could as well do every encounter on 'auto'. The job system in Five at least allows you to mix it up a little although most of the jobs are rather limited without the right equipment which you'll only find later in the game.

It's also interesting just how little the games explain to you with regard to the combat mechanics or classes.

It's fun but I remembered that I don't like the combat system itself that much, that mix of turn-based/real time combat combined with the grinding aspect tests my patience and fights can be pretty random.

[Sky]

It's also interesting just how little the games explain to you with regard to the combat mechanics or classes.

Games used to come with manuals.

[Jeff Kelly]

I know, I'm almost 40 now, I can still remember my Atari and NES days or simulators even including paper cut outs for the keys.

The manual for the SNES version had 80+ pages. There's a manual of sorts included with the iOS version of the game but you can only access it from the title screen which sucks.

I remember Atari 2600 game cartridges even coming with printed manuals at the time. Now not even Civ ships with a printed manual though (I still have the poster with the whole research tree from civ II somewhere ).

[dusematic]

I think you're all lovely, even Douche O Matic.  But he had to go!

What was I doing, I don't even remember ever playing EQ2.

[Rendakor]

Finally started playing Disgaea D2; the CE I'd ordered came a few weeks after the release date (back in October) and by the time it got here I had lost interest. It's a sequel to the original, so you're playing as Laharl, Etna and Flonne which is pretty cool (instead of a whole new cast). They've streamlined and simplified a few of the core systems, which I'm still ambivalent about, and removed duping which kinda sucks. I'm not far enough in to say if I like the changes or not, but it's still Disgaea so I'm having fun.

[Signe]

I think you're all lovely, even Douche O Matic.  But he had to go!

What was I doing, I don't even remember ever playing EQ2.

Who knows after all this time?  Now you've made me feel sad and guilty.  That will teach you!

[trias_e]

I made a huge mistake and bought kerbal space program.  There goes the rest of my vacation.

[MrHat]

Finished SMT4.

The last bit of the game is a bit meh and I have a feeling that it was just so Atlus could teach Gaijin Tokyo geography.

[Moaner]

I'm think I'm about half way through Might and Magic X.  As a huge M&M fan (especially World of Xeen), I'm loving the hell out of this game.  My party is Defender/Bladedancer/Shaman/Runepriest and so far I'm really happy with everyone.

I hope it sells enough that we get a M&M 11 one day.

[MisterNoisy]

Started playing The Secret World a couple of days ago with a couple of buddies after seeing it on Amazon for $15.  Not 100% sure I'll stick with it, but so far it's pretty fun.

[Merusk]

I'm not 100% sure it will be around much longer after that whole government raid thing, but hey!

Playing the shit out of some STO right now.  I had an MMO/ Spaceships fix and its got actual gameplay, unlike Eve, and it in Space, unlike Star Wars, so hey!  Started up a Romulan and discovered they're much more fun than Feddies.

[Threash]

I'm not 100% sure it will be around much longer after that whole government raid thing, but hey!

The what now?

[murdoc]

Kingdoms of Amular is 70% off this weekend on Steam

As an action orientated RPG, I really enjoyed this. Might be to "console" for this crowd, but I also have never seen it go on sale.

[Rasix]

Is the DLC worth getting or is it just fine on its own?

[Sky]

I was considering Amalur as with my steam card cash that's like $3.

[murdoc]

Is the DLC worth getting or is it just fine on its own?

I only played the Dead Kel DLC just for the Castle that you acquire at the end of it, but the game is fine without it.

[Signe]

I played it on the PS3.  It's not superfuckingawesome but it's absolutely worth the sale price.  A bit linear, but not horrible.  It's really pretty.  That baseball guy and the famous writer guy must really love glitter.  The game is very sparkly.  I think it ended up being a flop for that company, though.  Didn't the baseball guy have to sell his children or sommat?

[Ingmar]

Is the DLC worth getting or is it just fine on its own?

The demo made me motion sick, and I seem to recall that's something you occasionally have issues with.

[Sky]

Like wonky FOV motion sick?