So, what're you playing?

[stu]

12,000 seems like a lot now, but just wait till you drop 100k later on. It'll happen and you will LIKE IT!

[Stormwaltz]

I seriously need to dig into Guild Wars in the current lull between LotRO's Yulefest and STO patching in the Foundry. I never even finished the pre-Searing bit; when I realized I had to finish a half dozen grindy kiill quests scattered all over the zone in order to get a full set of armor, I couldn't muster the interest to go on.

[Ard]

I really need to go back and do that myself.  You can pretty safely skip most of pre-searing, it's not really all that enthralling.  You might almost be better off starting in either of the other two expansions instead (factions/nightfall).  Both are a lot faster and better put together.  Nightfall also has the benefit of getting you heroes a lot faster. 

I still need to go back and finish Prophecies.  I got cock blocked by the stupid Ring of Fire mission near the end, and just haven't been able to dig up the will to retry it.


Nearly finished with Metro 2033, but man, I had to drop the difficulty to easy.  I'm definitely getting old.
Nearly done with New Vegas also.  Haven't had to lower the difficulty yet, but deathclaws still suck.  Probably should finish up both of these this weekend.

[Nebu]

Every time I consider going back to GW, I remember how frustrating the henchmen AI can be.  Has this gotten better with the new expansion?  I think I bought the new one (Eye of the North or something?) and haven't played it at all.

[Ingmar]

Every time I consider going back to GW, I remember how frustrating the henchmen AI can be.  Has this gotten better with the new expansion?  I think I bought the new one (Eye of the North or something?) and haven't played it at all.

Once Nightfall came out and they added heroes, the henchman AI was fine. I think it got an upgrade around that time.

[TripleDES]

Started playing Live for Speed again. My wheel started catching too much dust. Too bad the community went to the shitter thanks to all promises and no updates from the devs.

[Azazel]

LittleBigPlanet 2 comes out, what, next week?

How about ModNation Racers?

[Hawkbit]

It costs $1.99 on PSN to even mention ModNation Racers here on the forums, I think. 

[Lantyssa]

I seriously need to dig into Guild Wars in the current lull between LotRO's Yulefest and STO patching in the Foundry. I never even finished the pre-Searing bit; when I realized I had to finish a half dozen grindy kiill quests scattered all over the zone in order to get a full set of armor, I couldn't muster the interest to go on.

Don't bother collecting stuff for armor.  If you get enough in the course of pre-Searing to purchase it, great, but you can craft better stuff fairly quickly.  Breaking down items for materials is a better time investment.

Though it's been said elsewhere a lot, Prophecies is also the slowest of the three campaigns.  If you have the others, I'd do those to learn the game.  Or get the Lion's Arch and take those characters through the other campaigns a bit.

Every time I consider going back to GW, I remember how frustrating the henchmen AI can be.  Has this gotten better with the new expansion?  I think I bought the new one (Eye of the North or something?) and haven't played it at all.

The AI is better, but their skills aren't always the best and they can still be dumb.  Get some heroes from Eye of the North and only use henchmen to fill in excess slots.  Pretty soon they're supposed to let you fill your entire party with heroes though, which will be even better.

[Azazel]

It costs $1.99 on PSN to even mention ModNation Racers here on the forums, I think. 

Well, it's true that the PSN store seems filled with useless crap in $1.99 packs, but you can safely ignore those.

[Ard]

Finished Metro 2033, nothing really new to say on that one.
Finally finished the stupid Prophecies campaign for Guild Wars.  I'm only six years late on this one, but dammit, they make you work for it.  Also managed to get up to 12 points in my hall of monuments, with an easy 3 points leftover to do yet, which will get me to my zombie chicken.  Yay.  I should be able to get that done somewhere in the next nine months, with as on and off I am playing this game.

[Sjofn]

I still haven't finished the stupid Prophesies campaign. I stall out every time.

[Sky]

Finishing up Mafia 2, running some of the DLC (Joe's Adventures). Great sequel, long overdue.

Getting stomped in blood bowl. At this point, not getting killed or permanently injured is a win imo.

Not sure what to jump into next, leaning towards Divinity 2 for some fantasy action after the shooty modernish Mafia 2, don't want to jump straight into Vegas. Also thought about round 2 trying to get Sacred 2 working with Windows 7. Ended up playing a bit of FFH2.

[ghost]

Also thought about round 2 trying to get Sacred 2 working with Windows 7.

Don't bother if you've already made the trip to the pawn shop to check out the power tools.  You'll probably want to chop up your computer. 

[WayAbvPar]

A rat bastard friend of mine has been raving about his new sub to WoW, and sent me a 10 day trial invitation. I subbed 4 hours into my trial. God I am weak.

[Azazel]

Dipping in and out of WoW with the wife. Only half of Grizzly Hills and all of Zul'Whatever for me to finish WotLK and activate my copy of Cataclysm - I like doing quests, so I see little to no point in skipping half of the quest content I already bought (I was unsubbed for 18mo-2yrs of LK) in order to play through the new quest content. No rush to be the latest and greatest etc.

Almost done with my replaythrough of Bad Company 2 on PC.

Played a few Predator Missions on Alien vs Predator on 360. Kinda hoping it'll end soon so I can be done with this game.

Have been playing a couple of hours of MP CoD:WaW on 360 this evening, while intermittently cleaning up the house, washing dishes, packing stuff up, and watching both commentary tracks to Oceans' Eleven. It's been quite okay, except every few map rotations it tells me to buy their map packs.

Considering a run through the remastered God of War games on PS3. Maybe Heavenly Sword as well.

Need to get wife to choose a new 360 co-op game since we finished WAW's co-op campaign.

[Paelos]

I'm mostly spending my time on WoW as well now. I spend about 85% on my main which I've almost got to raid ready gear level, and about 15% on the Worgen I'm writing the radicalthon about.

[Ingmar]

A bit of Blood Bowl, but mostly...

[Sjofn]

Sims 3, for some reason!

[Tebonas]

Still mainly Master of Mana, really digging the changes from Fall From Heaven, the Global Enchantments and Terraforming Spells take much of the micromanagement out of the game, as do Combat Auras for Spellcasters.

Also Dead Rising 2 for some quick action fun, though I don't get far into the main story, just take the Bat and Nails and go into town. Plus I was on an Astral Masters bender the last two days, trying to integrate the new cards into winning decks.

[Yegolev]

Din's Curse, which seems to have freed me from Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft for now.

Fable III last night and Just Cause 2 (PS3) before that.

[HaemishM]

Finally finished Assassin's Creed 1. I want to punch the entire dev team in the eye, but especially the writers. The game started well, but the ending made me stabby. You spend most of the game trying to be stealthy, trying to kill without wading through armies of guys then you are forced to wade through armies of guys to finish the game. Lazy game design if you ask me. The story just ends. I'm fine with setting up a sequel, but this fucking thing ended like it was meant to be an episode of Lost. The idea that you'd spend $60 on this then get told to spend another $60 to hopefully get the completion of the story - or at least some answers - is galling. Luckily I only spent $10 on a used copy or I'd be REALLY pissed. The ending was frustrating enough that I'm hesitant about picking up the second game when it drops into my price range.

Think my next long term game is Fallout 3.

[Sheepherder]

You know, I just finished Assassin's Creed recently as well.

I concur, goddamn does it end weak.  It's not even the shitpile kill frenzy at the end, it's that the last fights are a complete and utter cockpunch where every reflex you've been training for the entirety of the game is detrimental to you winning because all the enemies are immune to effectively every trick you have.  Then the last fight starts and WHAT THE FUCK ASSASSIN DUDE HAS MAGIC POWERS, FUCK OFF WITH THAT.  Were the seriously fucking aiming to tactically nuke the fourth wall into non-existence?

[Ingmar]

I haven't played either but everyone I know says AC2 makes a quantum leap forward in awesomeness, if hearsay matters to you.

[Hawkbit]

The last five minutes of AC were actually my favorite part of the game.  Knowing from the first hours of the game that it's going to be a sci-fi story meant I could just relax and enjoy the ride (like Lost, yeah).  When you finally see the glyphs and spend time looking at them, tracing them... that's what is so damn cool.  I spent hours afterward looking at the meaning behind each individual glyph.  There's a few sites that pick that info apart, if you're interested. 

Mualim has magic powers because he possesses the apple.  So, yeah.  He has magic powers.  It's fucking with Desmond's memories and it's messing with the Animus, which is why he is warping everywhere. 

AC2 is a lightspeed step forward in game play and story.  It becomes more fantastical and more mystical than the end of AC1.  It's a great game, but if you didn't like the end of AC1 then you'll be annoyed with 2 in that regard.  AC2 is more combat driven, overall.  You get poisons!  You own a villa and choose resources that provide income!  It's at a very basic level, but it's neat. 

AC2 got me looking in to the history of 15th century Italy and I actually want to visit some of these locations irl now.  I can't think of a single game that has done that to me before.  With all the fiction surrounding the "templars are the good guys" that is out there now, I'm happy to see the other side of the coin.  Won't deny it though, I'm bummed that the core team left Ubi before AC3 was finished because that almost always is a bad sign. 

I will say, AC1 trying to 100% had some real shit synchs... kill the five targets in five minutes was an utter bitch.  I don't think I finished that one.  It did get tedious after awhile.  Luckily AC2 pushes less on sequential synchronizations and more on just telling the story. 

[jakonovski]

I'm playing Angry Birds. A whole lot of Angry Birds.

[Malakili]

The last five minutes of AC were actually my favorite part of the game.  Knowing from the first hours of the game that it's going to be a sci-fi story meant I could just relax and enjoy the ride (like Lost, yeah).  When you finally see the glyphs and spend time looking at them, tracing them... that's what is so damn cool.  I spent hours afterward looking at the meaning behind each individual glyph.  There's a few sites that pick that info apart, if you're interested. 

Mualim has magic powers because he possesses the apple.  So, yeah.  He has magic powers.  It's fucking with Desmond's memories and it's messing with the Animus, which is why he is warping everywhere. 

AC2 is a lightspeed step forward in game play and story.  It becomes more fantastical and more mystical than the end of AC1.  It's a great game, but if you didn't like the end of AC1 then you'll be annoyed with 2 in that regard.  AC2 is more combat driven, overall.  You get poisons!  You own a villa and choose resources that provide income!  It's at a very basic level, but it's neat. 

AC2 got me looking in to the history of 15th century Italy and I actually want to visit some of these locations irl now.  I can't think of a single game that has done that to me before.  With all the fiction surrounding the "templars are the good guys" that is out there now, I'm happy to see the other side of the coin.  Won't deny it though, I'm bummed that the core team left Ubi before AC3 was finished because that almost always is a bad sign. 

I will say, AC1 trying to 100% had some real shit synchs... kill the five targets in five minutes was an utter bitch.  I don't think I finished that one.  It did get tedious after awhile.  Luckily AC2 pushes less on sequential synchronizations and more on just telling the story. 

I actually liked AC1 more than AC2, probably because it was new to me.  I didn't particularly find the story of either compelling, and I found that when I played 2 it was REALLY easy.  That being said, the best part of both games is simply running around the cities and climbing stuff, probably worth the price of admission alone.

[Tannhauser]

A bit of LOTRO, got my burg to 40.  Nice to be back in a MMO world, not amusement park.

Second playthrough of Fallout NV, this time I'm helping Mr. House.  Missiles and mini-nukes are so explodey fun!

Making History 2 with the Japanese.  I've conquered China/Vietnam/Dutch East Indies but who do I attack now, the Allies (technologically advanced U.S. and UK) or the Axis (Germany, Italy, USSR) with their Mordor-sized ground army? 

[HaemishM]

I didn't mind the mystical nature of the ending of AC1. After all, they'd been leaning towards that sort of thing all game. I was a bit disappointed that:


No, I was just really pissed off that the Desmond story had no real resolution whatsoever. It's like "here's some rising action, things are building to a head... OOOPS, CREDITS, BUY NEXT GAME SUCKA BITCH!!!!" That's what I meant by episodic. If I'm playing a game that's going to end like that, I shouldn't be paying full price - I should be buying episodes. Also, Desmond's bits controlled like monkey ass. I felt like I was walking through frozen butter compared to the Altair bits.

[Quinton]

SpaceChem is eating my gaming time right now.  It is awesomely evil.

I'll probaby go back to DragonAge:Origins once I finally best SpaceChem, complete all the optional challenges, and randomly optimize levels I wish I had done better at...

[Sky]

Finally getting around to stepping into the wastelands of F:NV, thanks again to the party responsible.

[Ashamanchill]

Now that my WoW sub is up I've returned to League of Legends when my buddies are on, and Sins of a Solar Empire when I burn out on multi player.

[Sheepherder]

I didn't mind the mystical nature of the ending of AC1. After all, they'd been leaning towards that sort of thing all game. I was a bit disappointed that:


No, I was just really pissed off that the Desmond story had no real resolution whatsoever. It's like "here's some rising action, things are building to a head... OOOPS, CREDITS, BUY NEXT GAME SUCKA BITCH!!!!" That's what I meant by episodic. If I'm playing a game that's going to end like that, I shouldn't be paying full price - I should be buying episodes. Also, Desmond's bits controlled like monkey ass. I felt like I was walking through frozen butter compared to the Altair bits.

They were doing the hunt / hiding of rare and exciting artifact the entire game, along with a heaping dose of pseudo-scientific / mystical bullshit, and a hefty dose of "religions pretty much fucking sucks."  Straight-up goddamn magic came out of nowhere.  When I started running into zombie assassins the first thing that entered my mind was "He's been trying to uncover the recipe for some sort of mind control concoction, like a Amobarbital++" especially since if you dig around in the Desmond sections you find some crazy shit about the company polluting a town's water supply.  But nope, magic orb.

But yes, the cliffhanger was shitty, and the Desmond parts in general just plain sucked.  Seriously, asshat had just spent days reliving the life of a Hashashin, couldn't they at least have ending it with him using his newfound knowledge to break a fucking nose or two?

[Jeff Kelly]

Saw Mass Effect for $5 and played it for most of the weekend.
Since I've played both Fallout 3 and New Vegas before, that I've got a pretty good compariosn between the two series now.

So far I like it a lot but it can also be quite frustrating at times. The story is OK and keeps you interested enough in the game that you want to continue but it's pretty standard fare. It's one of the best German translations I've ever seen, written dialogue as well as spoken and they even hired voice actors that can actually act.

What I've noticed is that the devil is in the details and there were a few in ME that I didn't like.

The decrypting/hacking mini game is just pressing the right button when it lights up on screen, just like 'Simon says'. Unfortunately it's been programmed by a twelve year old with perfect reflexes. I seriously had to save/reload quite a few times even on the easy challenges because the time that you have to react feels like milliseconds rather than seconds. Alternatively you can open locks or hack computers by using a ridiculous amount of universal gel (15 - 25 for a lock? When I can repair a whole armored transport with 15?) which is hard to come by if you don't want to dismantle equipment or upgrades.

So the mini game is boring and pretty frustrating. I liked the implementation in Fallout better because it's more based on dexterity and patience than sheer trigger finger.

I liked the unlockable powers that you get from certain skills if you put enough points in them but I was not that thrilled with the way combat works in ME.

I really undersatand why Bethesda implemented the VATS system for Fallout after doing combat in ME for some time. Twitch based real time combat and gamepad controls simply don't mix well at least in ME. Opponents are quickly zooming around on the screen and aiming with left analog is simply not precise enough. There is a computer added aim but that didn't seem to work too well either. It's even worse when you have to do combat with the ground vehicle. The few times I needed to do that were the most frustrating experiences in the Game. (Try to kill things like a Thresher which gets you with two shots with that thing it's ridiculously hard).

Combine that with opponents that seem to completely ignore tactics or your squad members and sometimes just charge your position with guns blazing and it gets rather chaotic, too much for my taste. On a few occaasions I literally died two seconds after opening a door or leaving cover or fighting a single gun tower with my vehicle.

For me the combat system is the least appealing part of ME.

Apart from that I have no gripes (although the frustrating combat experience nearly made me quit the game) but you can notice the lack of polish in a few details. People talking to you about things you've never mentioned. A whole class that doesn't get a single weapon skill. I can buy all sorts of weapons and upgrades but there is not one electronic lockpick or other misc equipment that temporarily boosts skills, no augmentations or body modifications. But you get 6 different versions of every weapon and armor at every level of which usually only one is worthwhile. Sell value is ridiculous (a piece of armor that costs 100,000 credits sells for 1,500) and other suchg things where you just notice something missing or not entirely tuned.

There are a lot of side quests but so far all of them have been kill quests, I have yet to do a side quest in which I don't encounter geth or mercs or the person I should find is already dead.

Dialogue is usually well written but it's harder to get decent speech skills since you not only have to put points into either charm or intimidate but also have to earn paragon/renegade points to get additional slots for the skill ppoints.

So far I enjoy it, I miss quite few things though that I kinda got used to in the Fallout games. It is rock solid though not a single crash so far.

[Oban]

Until the next episode comes out, I just finished Angry Birds on my iPhone. 

Great little game to play while on conference calls.