So, what're you playing?

[Hawkbit]

Did you try Just Cause 2 for that fix?  It's pure open world mayhem; should be dropping in price in the next few months. 

[Yegolev]

JC2 is in the mail.

[ghost]

I'm just amazed you crammed Batman:AA and Fallout 3 between the Hellgate and Aion shit sandwich. Any game you threw in there would be suspect.  However, Batman is a solid game, especially at the price you could likely get it for now.

Just finished my "free" month of Aion and you're right-  it's a shit sandwich by itself. 

I disagree about Hellgate though.  It's not great but it's certainly not terrible.  It's just FPS Diablo, but it's fun for 30 minutes or so every night as a single player game. 

[Malakili]

I disagree about Hellgate though.  It's not great but it's certainly not terrible.  It's just FPS Diablo, but it's fun for 30 minutes or so every night as a single player game. 

I actually agree. Hellgates problems, in my opinion, where a poor pricing model, too many modes which splintered an already small community and most importantly boat loads of bugs at release to the point where the game was literally unplayable for a lot of people.  The actual game was pretty decent in my opinion.  If had released in the state it was by the time it died, it might not have died in the first place...but well, it didn't turn out that way.   Then again, I'm in no hurry to reinstall it, especially when I could install Diablo 2 or any one of the clones I've got sitting on my shelf (or virtual shelf, as it were).

[Azazel]

Did you try Just Cause 2 for that fix?  It's pure open world mayhem; should be dropping in price in the next few months. 

I'll be picking it up then. Just started Uncharted 2, which is pretty good so far...

[Rasix]

Heh, I disliked the JC2 demo. It just felt.. off.  As for Hellgate... I have no idea how solid it is now.  All I know as that heading from the last stages of beta to release it was incredibly broken. I don't really revisit buggy shitpiles once I've finished with them.

UFC 2010 will soon be getting the fuck out of my house and to a Gamestop.  At least I got it as a gift and didn't spend my own money on it.  Game is horseshit. I'm done with this franchise until they do some serious retooling.

Witcher is about 100% more fun to play with decent loading times.  Chapter 2 is less of a trial.

[Minvaren]

Witcher is about 100% more fun to play with decent loading times.  Chapter 2 is less of a trial.

Reminds me, I should start a poll : would Auron bealt Geralt 1:1?  They are competitors in the Ultimate Badass competition, anyways.

Bioshock 2 : finished.  My verdict..........  meh.

Now on to FF7.  This just in : Sephiroth is pissed.  About everything.  

(edit : speeling r gud)

[Malakili]

Fighting the Great Patriotic War as the Soviet Union in Hearts of Iron III 

[Azazel]

UFC 2010 will soon be getting the fuck out of my house and to a Gamestop.  At least I got it as a gift and didn't spend my own money on it.  Game is horseshit. I'm done with this franchise until they do some serious retooling.

How does it compare to 2009?

[Rasix]

UFC 2010 will soon be getting the fuck out of my house and to a Gamestop.  At least I got it as a gift and didn't spend my own money on it.  Game is horseshit. I'm done with this franchise until they do some serious retooling.

How does it compare to 2009?

The bad/meh/dumb
-  The clinch system is now like the ground game in that you have to do all of the semi-circle shit to transition to various states. It's pretty annoying.
-  There's stat decay.  You hit plateaus at 30/50/70 but anything other than will decay.  Same thing with skills.  That's exactly what 2009 was missing, maintenance. What fuckhead thought this was a good idea?
-  Each rank of trainer upgrade is capped for stats and skills.  You can't power stats up higher before you get "cred" upgrades for your trainers.  You remain a wimp for a decently long time.  It's annoying.
-  You can do focused sparring for points that flat out raise a skill without the multipliers.  Regular sparring is always capped at 50 points. This system is mostly dumb, but it's the only real way to combat the skill decay and not go fucking insane.
-  You start off with basic moves. You have to pick up advanced moves or raise the level of moves at training camps.  There's one easy mini-game for striking, one combo game that's slightly annoying, but getting levels in grappling moves or subs (especially subs) is a pain in the ass. This system allows you to customize your fighter and is a giant pain in the ass compared to 2009's system because you only get one new move or one level at a time.  There's 3 levels to any move.  YAH, FUN.
-  The new voice/interview stuff is interesting the first time you see it.  Complete annoyance every other time.  I WANT TO SKIP CUTSCENE.
-  Two goddamn warning screens I have to click through every time you start the game.  YES, I KNOW IT SAVES TO THE HARD DRIVE.  FUCK OFF.
-  Connects to a server when starting.  Annoying and slow and stupid.  
-  On the difficulty I play on, any comp sub attempt is instant death.  I've yet to get out of a single sub. You can't mash buttons to break out anymore, you have to use their monkey-fucking Shine system. Yes, I'd like to take a break from doing my hadukens to ROTATE THE RIGHT STICK IN CIRCLES.  OHH GOD I TAPPED.  Stupid. Ditch this dumb system.
-  It's buggy. I got my game into a state where if I knocked someone out they stayed upright.  This didn't correct itself until I restarted the game.  

The good
-  Sponsorship is a bit more streamlined.  You get actual apparel for post fight shit.  More character customization in general.  This is nice.
-  Striking has improved.  There's added movement shit I mostly don't use yet and won't since I'm returning this shitpile. You don't get as many "jesus, I barely hit him" flash KOs.
-  It looks better.  Menus load a bit better.  No more annoying email shit.
-  Character progression is a bit better through the ranks.  
-  CPU fighter AI is pretty interesting.  Chael Sonnen is as annoying to fight as he is to watch.  God, I loved knocking that guy out.

Basically if all the "good" stuff above to 2009 with also making it so you could actually land a sub on the CPU, it'd be a great game.  As is, they tried to cram way too much into a short development cycle and it ended up being something that QA should have shat back to the dev team with a card that said "fuck you, roll it back".  Every new system they put in just flat out sucks.

I just don't care to get good at this game.  They made a game that was fun and a bit of a pain in the ass to play a bigger pain in the ass to play with a giant side helping of horseshit game mechanics.  I am not amused.

[Azazel]

Thanks for that. It looks like I'll be waiting for 2011 and the reviews of that one for my MMA fix. Well, I'll see what's said about the EA game when it comes out at least...

[rk47]

Doom 2. Without sound. In the office. 

I'm getting motion sickness. Jeeeez. SO WEAK.

[Rasix]

Witcher is about 100% more fun to play with decent loading times.  Chapter 2 is less of a trial.

Still on 2... 17 hours in. 

[Sky]

Finished ME2, what an awesome game. I really enjoyed it, bummed I can't find my ME1 disc to reinstall and finish my renegade playthrough to import.

Not sure what to play now. Putting up trim in the LR, I guess.

[Paelos]

I'm playing through the Witcher now, Chapter 1. Trying to navigate through the interface to figure out what in the hell I'm supposed to be doing with all this alchemist shit seems to be my biggest problem atm.

Am I supposed to brew potions at specific places? Seems like I'm carrying around tons of this junk.

[Bunk]

At a campfire.

[Rasix]

I'm playing through the Witcher now, Chapter 1. Trying to navigate through the interface to figure out what in the hell I'm supposed to be doing with all this alchemist shit seems to be my biggest problem atm.

Am I supposed to brew potions at specific places? Seems like I'm carrying around tons of this junk.

Camp fire like Bunk says or any place that will let you sleep (inn/certain characters). This is where you spend your talent points as well.  For most potions you need a high quality base or just a base, which is usually a strong alcohol. With non-high quality bases you can make White Gull, which will work as a high quality base.

[ghost]

Yeah, I've just been ignoring the alchemy.  I'm sure eventually I'll have to start fucking with it, but everytime I do I end up stopping playing......for a few months. 

[Rasix]

It's not overly difficult and there's only really 3 potions I use with any regularity (swallow, cat, tawny owl).  Some parts might be a little hard without at least swallow for the health regen.   You can't use many at once due to toxicity anyhow.  Using a lot of other stuff or blade coatings is just overkill unless you're on a higher difficulty.

Early on, the only real tough fights where alchemy really helps can be the Beast (which is cheesable) or the named plant in the swamp in chapter 2.  Getting swarmed when entering a building can be a bit annoying also, but you can always use Aard to create some space.  It's helpful to remember that the fire sign (Igni) does a good job with plants, especially later on if you have the ignite talents for Igni and the strong silver style.

Trade quarter is a system raper.  My PC doth not like it.

[ghost]

Yeah, I'm sure it isn't too hard.  I have just been getting killed at work lately (and with kids) so I really have found my patience for even a little tedium has disappeared.  It seems like a really kick ass game though.  I just need a week off

[Engels]

I started playing the Void. Its waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too hard, for starters. Its also a game that I can only see myself playing all the way through if I'm paralyzed by a deep chronic depression. Shoulda been called, A Visual Guide to SSRIs or someshit.

[Ingmar]

Puzzle Quest 2 is pretty great - had been a little worried after Galactrix and Puzzle Kingdoms, but those worries are put to bed now.

[NowhereMan]

Playing DoWII SP campaign. The repeat play value isn't really great though, I sort of thought that switching up specs might work but, while it isn't impossible it seems like the obvious specs really work best. Heavy Weapon Force Commander doesn't work nearly as well as close combat (setup time is always there and heavy weapons preclude any command items). I've bought Star Wars: Empire at War and DoD: Source on the Steam sale though so I've got plenty to entertain myself with.

[Xilren's Twin]

Puzzle Quest 2 is pretty great - had been a little worried after Galactrix and Puzzle Kingdoms, but those worries are put to bed now.

Musta missed that release date.  I'll have to get it.
That said, Puzzle Kingdoms maybe the most fun i've ever gotten out of a game for $1.00.

[Raguel]

MLB 10 the Show. I haven't played a baseball game in over a decade. IRL I love football and only have a passing interest in baseball, but I think the Show is more fun than Madden, and for my money there's nothing better than hitting a walk off home run

[WayAbvPar]

God I wish they would port that to the 360 

[Ard]

Tons and tons of Transformers.  I can't get enough of that game for some reason, and I still can't explain it.

Still working on Resonance of Fate.  Like it alot, but taking a back burner to Transformers, so it's not getting finished in any hurry.  Managed to beat the escort chapter without any problems, and after reading about all the issues people had, that made me feel at least competent.

The Steam sale was evil, but out of the billions of games I bought, I've been playing Rollercoaster Tycoon 3.  Something is really wrong with me, but dammit if my Wild West park wasn't awesome.

[Malakili]

Been playing some TF2 this week in anticipation of the long awaited engineer update.   I didn't realize the community weapons they added had actual stats, I thought they were simply reskins of weapons that were already there.  In any event, I've been playing some offensive engineer to get used to the style of play I plan on trying out with the unlocks, and my goodness level one sentries placed in weird spots are amazingly effective, and at 130 metal, incredibly easy to replace.  Also helps that people don't put a high priority on killing level 1 guns, so it often just sits there plinking away.

[Segoris]

Tons and tons of Transformers.  I can't get enough of that game for some reason, and I still can't explain it.

Are you playing Conquer or Death Match more? I know I'm loving Conquer and enjoy it more as well as getting more xp there on average runs than I do on good runs in Death Match.


Also, Overlord is the game I'm playing here and there when I can pull myself away from TF:WFC. Grinding beetles in the dungeon can suck to upgrade gear, but otherwise it's been enjoyable. One day I'll go back to Resonance of Fate or start up Nier

[Ard]

Are you playing Conquer or Death Match more? I know I'm loving Conquer and enjoy it more as well as getting more xp there on average runs than I do on good runs in Death Match.

I switched over to mostly Conquest last weekend, and liked that a lot more.  The problem is you get easily rolled if your team sucks, and scientists with shockwave are almost overpowered since they can knock everyone out of range of the node (not that I have a problem with this since I'm usually the one doing it, but still).  I also played a fair amount of Power Struggle, which is basically Conquest on crack.  It basically forces everyone on both teams to go after a single node that moves around, which causes much more chaotic fights because everyone is involved.  I still prefer Conquest, because Power Struggle seemed to have a lot more lag, but that might have just been bad hosts.

[Segoris]

The times I played power struggle it wasn't laggy at all the first time and the second time it was awful

In Conquest, I did notice getting rolled a few times, but considering how rare it seems to be compared to what are pretty good and relatively close games it really isn't a complaint of mine. The team match making seems to do a pretty great job of keeping things balanced. I think the only thing I'd like to see is about a 20-50% permanent boost in xp. I'm level 17 with a scientist and scout and leveling has began to suck when bringing in, I can't imagine how much I'll hate it at 20+ with the current xp rate.

As for that use of shockwave, it is handy but then with my setup I feel a little defenseless once I have someone in my face after pushing people off the node (healer abilities in all slots except for the rocket sentry while running shockwave/sentry as my skills). I will say that I noticed a good scientist is annoying, a great scientist is almost god.

[Yegolev]

Rollercoaster Tycoon 3

I had a hard time with #3.  It just didn't do what I wanted, after putting so many hours into the first two.  Felt MEH.  I am looking at the box now.  I feel MEH.

Small bits of Red Dead.  I finally bothered to break some wild horses, contemplating replacing Old Gluefoot from the mission where you learn to break horses.  I was dicking around in the desert beneath Torquemada and was trying to decide which horse might be better... it was subtle.  Until, that is, I noticed a white horse and decided to break it.  I have broken a lot of horses, and cheated at cards from time to time, but this was the first horse that managed to throw me.  I made this one my bitch, and I was not sorry.  He's like fucking Shadowfax.

Listening to Tom Waits on Pandora, until this week when I went back to Vangelis for some de-stress, and currently am doing same with Philip Glass.  Can't beat Glass for meditative music, in my opinion.

Reading The Two Towers and The 48 Laws of Power.

[Tebonas]

The whole "Damn, I likely won't be buying Diablo 3" thing brought me to play some Torchwood.

Plus, the King Arthur Saxons DLC, trying to get some Sandbox playtime out of it.

For cheap thrills, Flatout Ultimate Carnage.

[caladein]

God I wish they would port that to the 360 

From what I've seen The Show is a better game than the 2K game, but I've had a lot of fun with the MLB 2K10 especially once I got past its intrinsic 2K-ness (i.e. bugs/freezes and a wonky interface).

I even don't mind the vibration it loves to trigger when anything goes wrong as a pitcher, whereas I usually find vibration completely annoying.

Aside from that, I finally got around to installing Gal Civ II.  Both give me a case of the "just one more" something fierce...

[Sky]

Trim in the living room almost done, one more coat of poly (except the closet doors...)! Between that I've been dabbling with Overlord, which is awesome with 3D vision and the 360 pad, and the first Riddick game, which for some reason won't go into 3D mode, runs kind of wonky and there's some FoV issue going on (get a bit nauseated). Don't really like the controls, either and there's a bit of mouse lag. Trying to do a quick play-through just for the IP and Vin one-liners.