I absolutely agree with the parent.
I've known some of my friends who did nothing but eat, sleep, and play WoW. They would spend all their time questing, rep grinding, battlegrounds, etc. I even had a roommate once that when I would leave in the morning for work, he'd be plastered in front of WoW, and be in the same exact position when I came home after 8-9 hours of work.
I play WoW as well, but I do it in scheduled chunks. I'm part of an endgame raiding guild, and we're pretty punctual in starting raids. We get there by a certain time, buff, and then get to killing the bosses. My guildies are absolutely hilarious, and we have tons of fun while progressing in the game.
I do this maybe three times a week on average. The rest of the time is for me, and I usually don't spend it playing WoW. I find it funny when I don't let the game consume me, but I've progressed further than my friends who have gotten sucked into the game.
Then again, that could just be me.
- Sente (60 Druid on Runetotem US)
I'll agree with Quake 4 being one of the most recent games that I played that had a level of 'disturbing', especially with the Stroggification and seeing former teammates as Strogg. I'll also agree with System Shock 2.
Phantasmagoria had some pretty disturbing scenes as well, with the murder scenes, etc. Earlier Sierra games that had the same effect would be Laura Bow in the Dagger of Amon Ra and Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers.
Dagger started out innocently enough until people started dying, and you as the character would have to examine, poke and prod the dead bodies to figure out how they died and for any clues as to who the murderer was. The examinations were pretty graphic for the video card capability of the time, and going from room to room with the creepy music going on in the background helped make the mood more disturbing.I recently rediscovered the game last week, and had a blast playing through it.
Gabriel Knight starts out disturbing right off the bat, with the Voodoo Murders happening all around New Orleans. As the game progresses, you find out more about the force behind the murders, as well as deep secrets of Gabriel Knight's past. It's a wonderful adventure game, and I'd recommend it to anyone.
When I think of creepy games, most of the ones that I know of are well-executed adventure games (pardon the pun).
Re:Hmmm... they should have enlarged that list.
on
Five That Fell
·
· Score: 1
IIRC, Dynamix and Papyrus became part of the Sierra Family rather early on, 1990 and 1995 respectively. When Sierra became nothing more than a publishing company (and a former shell of its once adventure game dynasty), these two faded away as well.
One work day, I was happily typing away on a program when I receive a call from our receptionist.
"Wuie?"
"Yeah?"
"I have a question. I'm wondering if it's possible for me to get a faster monitor."
I pause and think for a second.
"Faster monitor?"
"Yeah. Whenever I click on a program or a window or something, it takes forever to load up."
I had to gently break it to her that no matter what monitor we gave her, it'd still take the same amount of time to display on the screen. The baffled look on my boss' face was priceless as well.
My friend and I discussed the merits of Blizzard and its success many times, and we've pretty much come up with the following as the "secret sauce":
1. Support - Blizzard supports both PC and Mac gamers, bridging the gap between the two platforms and allowing both groups to kill the everloving frag out of each other. Combine this with extensive bug testing and game balancing, and you have a game that the company continues to support on a long-term basis.
2. Stability - For the most part, Blizzard games are stable. There are only two times that I remember them being unstable to the point of frustration. First was a dual-wield drop that barbarians had in Diablo 2 that would cause them to be thrown out of the game (fixed), and the realm issues that we're seeing currently on World of Warcraft (which are being 'fixed' atm due to some server migration). Past that, and the case is good for Blizzard stability.
3. Accessability - Blizzard games are not difficult. Anyone interested in the game can sit down and in short order know how the game works. Interfaces are intuitive. Help options are available. Tooltips explain everything. Blizzard designs their games so that the most noobish player can get past anything given enough time, but expert players can use more advanced options to enchance their gameplay.
4. Immersion - Blizzard's creative staff comes up with a lot of lore for each of the settings it creates. We're talking tons of backstory that's rarely used, sketches that aren't seen in the game, etc. It weaves a tale to the gamers that they're part of a larger world, and that can do a lot to trigger the imagination.
5. Unoriginality - This is probably the biggest point, and I don't mean the word to come across viciously at all. Warcraft came from other RTS and LoTR lore. Diablo came from RPGs. Starcraft from RTS and sci-fi. World of Warcraft from EQ and other MMORPGS. Blizzard basically looks at whatever field they want to go into, look at all the merits and flaws of past attempts, brainstorm endlessly and come up with something that will sell. I love Blizzard games as much as the next person, but let's face it: There's no innovation here, folks. Every Blizzard product that has made them 'successful' is just a rehashing of a formula that other companies have created.
Nope, it sure isn't. That's a picture of the Draenei female. Blood elves have pale skin. This picture has blueish skin. I saw this over on the WoW forums, and this picture is also lumped in with the male Draenei pictures and an 'evolution' picture.
So, as I and presumably you noticed, if your character had at some point in his past gone through Fire on the Water, it was... different. I got to the point where I looked at the monster, and just thought: 'Skeletons = undead = double damage from Sommerswerd = I can't be arsed statting out the fight. I win.'
True, but there were some times that having the Sommerswerd was more harmful than good. In The Cauldron of Fear, having the Sommerswerd would put you into a near-unbeatable fight with the Darklord at the end, whereas *not* having it would make the battle much easier.
There's another book that has almost the same thing happen at the end (Prisoner of Time I think, but don't quote me on that), and in Castle Death it was entirely possible to lose the Sommerswerd forever.
There was also Joe Dever's Lone Wolf series, which had the fun of a CYOA and an RPG mixed all into one.
What I really enjoyed about them is the variety of Kai powers (which later became Magnakai, then Grand Master, etc), and how those choices could affect how easily you could survive the path that you took. An example would be that you wouldn't want to travel somewhere excessively hot or cold without the Kai power of Nexus (The ability to withstand extremes in temperature).
Also, it was a nice touch to have the ability to bring over your character from previous books. Sometimes, it felt like a necessity, since some parts were easier if you were in possession of certain items that were acquired in previous books, like the Sommerswerd.
The summary is so misleading that it makes me want to cringe.
Livejournal used to have two different account types: free and subscription, both with no ads. Free journals are limiting in what they can offer, such as no place to store pictures, only 6 avatars, etc. Subscriptions give storage space for pictures, 12 avatars, all that fun stuff. If you just want to have a basic place to put your thoughts of the day, then the free account is all you really need. Subscriptions are for the bells and whistles.
This new third account type with advertising strikes a medium between the two. It allows users to have the bells and whistles of the subscription member, but for the price of free + advertisements on the journal. For some people, this is their blogging wish come true!
It has *nothing* to do with switching all free accounts to advertisement accounts. People with free accounts can still have their bare-bones journals sans advertisements. This is just merely making sure that if people opt to have advertisements on their sites in exchange for the goodies, that the advertisements *stay put*. It's the exchange that they make for not paying the subscription.
One of your former colleagues, Number Five, has separated itself from its owner's commands and controls, and is now lurking somewhere in the countryside. The last known transmission from Number Five was "Wouldn't You Like To Be A Pepper Too?".
Find it right now, [generic fighting robot name], and eliminate!
Quest Objectives: Find the location of the rogue Number Five and exterminate.
I had that thought in the back of my head while I was replying, but then I realized that I remember a time when EB *did* have 1/2 of a store dedicated to PC gaming. However, EB has recently turned more to the console side of electronic gaming, and the PC gaming side has dimished by quite a bit.
When I last checked an EB, it was also before the release of the XBOX 360, so the majority of console games that were on display were for XBOX and PS2.
The overall point is that the store % of PC gaming is going down, and usually that's a sign of a decrease in PC gaming. As a business principle, EB (and any other business) will increase stock in things that do sell well (consoles), and start cutting back on stock that won't sell as well (PC gaming). Not that it makes me proud to say that, since I'm an avid PC gamer, and I want the industry to continue and thrive.
Let's get even more exact, with the target of the actions.
A child can't consent to sex because their minds aren't ready for the concept that is sexual intercourse. The effects of forcing sex on someone who isn't ready can be disasterous.
A person getting beat up or possibly murdered because of their skin tone, I would bet, doesn't like the fact that they're getting pummeled.
The other person in a homosexual relationship is aware of what they're doing, and they feel pleasure and possibly *love* for the person they're having sex with.
Two of these have undesirable outcomes for one or both of the parties involved. The third one doesn't.
I don't believe this article at all. Seriously, where do they come off saying that meetings make people negative. Sounds like they're trying to point the finger at everything these days. Meetings.. cubicles.. I mean next they're going to blam-
AAUGH, I'll finish this later, it's meeting time.
Slashdot Mirror
I absolutely agree with the parent. I've known some of my friends who did nothing but eat, sleep, and play WoW. They would spend all their time questing, rep grinding, battlegrounds, etc. I even had a roommate once that when I would leave in the morning for work, he'd be plastered in front of WoW, and be in the same exact position when I came home after 8-9 hours of work. I play WoW as well, but I do it in scheduled chunks. I'm part of an endgame raiding guild, and we're pretty punctual in starting raids. We get there by a certain time, buff, and then get to killing the bosses. My guildies are absolutely hilarious, and we have tons of fun while progressing in the game. I do this maybe three times a week on average. The rest of the time is for me, and I usually don't spend it playing WoW. I find it funny when I don't let the game consume me, but I've progressed further than my friends who have gotten sucked into the game. Then again, that could just be me. - Sente (60 Druid on Runetotem US)
I'll agree with Quake 4 being one of the most recent games that I played that had a level of 'disturbing', especially with the Stroggification and seeing former teammates as Strogg. I'll also agree with System Shock 2.
Phantasmagoria had some pretty disturbing scenes as well, with the murder scenes, etc. Earlier Sierra games that had the same effect would be Laura Bow in the Dagger of Amon Ra and Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers.
Dagger started out innocently enough until people started dying, and you as the character would have to examine, poke and prod the dead bodies to figure out how they died and for any clues as to who the murderer was. The examinations were pretty graphic for the video card capability of the time, and going from room to room with the creepy music going on in the background helped make the mood more disturbing.I recently rediscovered the game last week, and had a blast playing through it.
Gabriel Knight starts out disturbing right off the bat, with the Voodoo Murders happening all around New Orleans. As the game progresses, you find out more about the force behind the murders, as well as deep secrets of Gabriel Knight's past. It's a wonderful adventure game, and I'd recommend it to anyone.
When I think of creepy games, most of the ones that I know of are well-executed adventure games (pardon the pun).
IIRC, Dynamix and Papyrus became part of the Sierra Family rather early on, 1990 and 1995 respectively. When Sierra became nothing more than a publishing company (and a former shell of its once adventure game dynasty), these two faded away as well.
One work day, I was happily typing away on a program when I receive a call from our receptionist.
"Wuie?"
"Yeah?"
"I have a question. I'm wondering if it's possible for me to get a faster monitor."
I pause and think for a second.
"Faster monitor?"
"Yeah. Whenever I click on a program or a window or something, it takes forever to load up."
I had to gently break it to her that no matter what monitor we gave her, it'd still take the same amount of time to display on the screen. The baffled look on my boss' face was priceless as well.
TFA is about the worst videogame names ever, not the worst games ever.
My friend and I discussed the merits of Blizzard and its success many times, and we've pretty much come up with the following as the "secret sauce":
1. Support - Blizzard supports both PC and Mac gamers, bridging the gap between the two platforms and allowing both groups to kill the everloving frag out of each other. Combine this with extensive bug testing and game balancing, and you have a game that the company continues to support on a long-term basis.
2. Stability - For the most part, Blizzard games are stable. There are only two times that I remember them being unstable to the point of frustration. First was a dual-wield drop that barbarians had in Diablo 2 that would cause them to be thrown out of the game (fixed), and the realm issues that we're seeing currently on World of Warcraft (which are being 'fixed' atm due to some server migration). Past that, and the case is good for Blizzard stability.
3. Accessability - Blizzard games are not difficult. Anyone interested in the game can sit down and in short order know how the game works. Interfaces are intuitive. Help options are available. Tooltips explain everything. Blizzard designs their games so that the most noobish player can get past anything given enough time, but expert players can use more advanced options to enchance their gameplay.
4. Immersion - Blizzard's creative staff comes up with a lot of lore for each of the settings it creates. We're talking tons of backstory that's rarely used, sketches that aren't seen in the game, etc. It weaves a tale to the gamers that they're part of a larger world, and that can do a lot to trigger the imagination.
5. Unoriginality - This is probably the biggest point, and I don't mean the word to come across viciously at all. Warcraft came from other RTS and LoTR lore. Diablo came from RPGs. Starcraft from RTS and sci-fi. World of Warcraft from EQ and other MMORPGS. Blizzard basically looks at whatever field they want to go into, look at all the merits and flaws of past attempts, brainstorm endlessly and come up with something that will sell. I love Blizzard games as much as the next person, but let's face it: There's no innovation here, folks. Every Blizzard product that has made them 'successful' is just a rehashing of a formula that other companies have created.
Nope, it sure isn't. That's a picture of the Draenei female. Blood elves have pale skin. This picture has blueish skin. I saw this over on the WoW forums, and this picture is also lumped in with the male Draenei pictures and an 'evolution' picture.
The parent post is not safe for work. Just thought you'd like to be warned. :)
Wii are not amused.
So, as I and presumably you noticed, if your character had at some point in his past gone through Fire on the Water, it was... different. I got to the point where I looked at the monster, and just thought: 'Skeletons = undead = double damage from Sommerswerd = I can't be arsed statting out the fight. I win.'
True, but there were some times that having the Sommerswerd was more harmful than good. In The Cauldron of Fear, having the Sommerswerd would put you into a near-unbeatable fight with the Darklord at the end, whereas *not* having it would make the battle much easier.
There's another book that has almost the same thing happen at the end (Prisoner of Time I think, but don't quote me on that), and in Castle Death it was entirely possible to lose the Sommerswerd forever.
Crazy times.
This was a test to see whether you were James T Kirk. You failed.
I think you meant to say "Your life and your quest end here".
There was also Joe Dever's Lone Wolf series, which had the fun of a CYOA and an RPG mixed all into one.
What I really enjoyed about them is the variety of Kai powers (which later became Magnakai, then Grand Master, etc), and how those choices could affect how easily you could survive the path that you took. An example would be that you wouldn't want to travel somewhere excessively hot or cold without the Kai power of Nexus (The ability to withstand extremes in temperature).
Also, it was a nice touch to have the ability to bring over your character from previous books. Sometimes, it felt like a necessity, since some parts were easier if you were in possession of certain items that were acquired in previous books, like the Sommerswerd.
Hunter Weapon!
The summary is so misleading that it makes me want to cringe.
Livejournal used to have two different account types: free and subscription, both with no ads. Free journals are limiting in what they can offer, such as no place to store pictures, only 6 avatars, etc. Subscriptions give storage space for pictures, 12 avatars, all that fun stuff. If you just want to have a basic place to put your thoughts of the day, then the free account is all you really need. Subscriptions are for the bells and whistles.
This new third account type with advertising strikes a medium between the two. It allows users to have the bells and whistles of the subscription member, but for the price of free + advertisements on the journal. For some people, this is their blogging wish come true!
It has *nothing* to do with switching all free accounts to advertisement accounts. People with free accounts can still have their bare-bones journals sans advertisements. This is just merely making sure that if people opt to have advertisements on their sites in exchange for the goodies, that the advertisements *stay put*. It's the exchange that they make for not paying the subscription.
I better be careful where I put that vibrating computer, or else I may find it quite... stimulating... to make people extremely bored and irritated.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to find someone to talk to about my level 60 character with maxed out leatherworking.
No Katamari? How disturbing...
Wow, for a moment there, I thought that they introduced Programming as an Olympic Event in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino. :o
Wouldn't You Like To Be A Pepper Too?
One of your former colleagues, Number Five, has separated itself from its owner's commands and controls, and is now lurking somewhere in the countryside. The last known transmission from Number Five was "Wouldn't You Like To Be A Pepper Too?".
Find it right now, [generic fighting robot name], and eliminate!
Quest Objectives: Find the location of the rogue Number Five and exterminate.
Quest Rewards: [Improved Firing Laser]
I had that thought in the back of my head while I was replying, but then I realized that I remember a time when EB *did* have 1/2 of a store dedicated to PC gaming. However, EB has recently turned more to the console side of electronic gaming, and the PC gaming side has dimished by quite a bit.
When I last checked an EB, it was also before the release of the XBOX 360, so the majority of console games that were on display were for XBOX and PS2.
The overall point is that the store % of PC gaming is going down, and usually that's a sign of a decrease in PC gaming. As a business principle, EB (and any other business) will increase stock in things that do sell well (consoles), and start cutting back on stock that won't sell as well (PC gaming). Not that it makes me proud to say that, since I'm an avid PC gamer, and I want the industry to continue and thrive.
Of course, one problem you should never sleep on is another man's wife. :(
The last EB I went to, they only had about 1/6th of the store dedicated to PC gaming.
Let's get even more exact, with the target of the actions.
A child can't consent to sex because their minds aren't ready for the concept that is sexual intercourse. The effects of forcing sex on someone who isn't ready can be disasterous.
A person getting beat up or possibly murdered because of their skin tone, I would bet, doesn't like the fact that they're getting pummeled.
The other person in a homosexual relationship is aware of what they're doing, and they feel pleasure and possibly *love* for the person they're having sex with.
Two of these have undesirable outcomes for one or both of the parties involved. The third one doesn't.
The three aren't comparable.
You can't have a gay or straight character -- you can't have sex at all.
/silly jokes is "Homogenized? No thanks, I like the ladies."
That's a really odd point to bring up when one of the Tauren male's default
That is the worst ending to a website slashdotting ever. :(
I don't believe this article at all. Seriously, where do they come off saying that meetings make people negative. Sounds like they're trying to point the finger at everything these days. Meetings.. cubicles.. I mean next they're going to blam- AAUGH, I'll finish this later, it's meeting time.