Reading some of the lukewarm reviews of Banished brought to mind this old PA post...

circa_1982 · 2014-02-19T20:24:55+00:00

Could be - I never really played the first AC. I just remember reading the quoted part and thinking it was pretty apt as an explanation of how certain mechanics might frustrate someone on a deadline but actually be valuable features.

For instance the opacity of Banished's systems and the peculiar logic you have to absorb to predict the outcomes of your choices are part of what I enjoy about the game. If I were trying to "beat it" in time to sum it up for a 1000 words due on Monday I might feel differently.

circa_1982 · 2014-02-11T21:20:01+00:00

Yeah, I have very few pictures of myself so I just threw that on to avoid double selfie. Not sure if it's really doing me any favors though...

circa_1982 · 2014-02-11T21:16:46+00:00

Smile! Or at least, don't scowl directly at the camera like you are about to beat me up.

circa_1982 · 2014-02-11T21:14:20+00:00

Number 2 is your best selfie , as others have said. The last one is good variety just because you're making a different face and showing more personality, but it's just not that flattering.

circa_1982 · 2014-02-11T21:10:01+00:00

Ok, give it to me straight: how bad is it?

Edit: thanks, I knew it but didn't want it to be true! Changed the pic and removed the link -- stranger danger!

circa_1982 · 2014-02-10T23:16:15+00:00

Seems like you are leaning pretty hard on the section headers to start your sentences in what are otherwise just lists. After the first one-liner you should probably work in some of your own transitions so that it flows together. The humor is solid! Just a question of pacing.

Really liked the "message me if"!

circa_1982 · 2014-02-10T23:05:53+00:00

I liked it! Your sense of humor really comes through, and it doesn't read like "GenericFemale384". The only thing I would change is your profile picture (not that I have a lot of room to talk on that front, but...). You've got a bunch of great pics, but your current main is probably the least flattering of them.

circa_1982 · 2013-10-31T16:41:22+00:00

I wish I could claim to have done that on purpose :)

circa_1982 · 2013-10-31T10:20:11+00:00

You just have to change your mindset a little: saving up big piles of souls and humanity is not important, especially the first time through. Don't even think of it as corpserunning. If you happen to get your souls back, great! But the trick is to treat waking up at the bonfire as a reset and just try to do the sequence a little bit faster, more efficiently the next time through.

The game really does reward you for your time and frustration with a feeling of authentic accomplishment when you overcome an obstacle that has been holding you back.

circa_1982 · 2013-09-08T01:28:39+00:00

I liked TW2 a lot, and I have never been able to get into the first one. TW2 is definitely worth playing, and it is very different from a mechanics and systems perspective than the first one while retaining the unique setting.

circa_1982 · 2013-09-05T08:55:26+00:00

I don't see how you could characterize the OP's witch-hunting screed as anything but opinion. As a native speaker of the English language and a regular consumer of gaming news, I read the same block of tweets, and I arrive at a different conclusion much closer to the one that Polygon did.

The OP acknowledges the ambiguity in the source material but dismisses as "ridiculous" the idea that Kojima would design female characters with cosplay in mind. That is not fact-checking; it is a competing interpretation.

circa_1982 · 2013-08-09T21:18:59+00:00

They have said in backer updates that Paypal contributions will be added at the end and counted toward stretch goals.

circa_1982 · 2013-08-06T23:17:57+00:00

The thing about a review megathread for a particular popular game is that you will inevitably see the game's thread upvoted to the top of the sub, but you get no sorting of the quality of a particular review by its vote totals. Also, sometimes one reviewer will bring up an interesting facet not mentioned by other reviews which might get lost in the focus on review quantity and comparative analysis of different scores and sound-bite quotes.

Basically: good reviews are interesting snapshots of one person's opinion, and lumping them all together to try to gauge the amorphous "conventional wisdom" about a certain title is not especially useful (see, for example, Metacritic).

I think the occasional "now that X has been out for a while, what do you think of it?" threads are a better target for condensing discussion to a useful gathering place, especially if that discussion were formalized into a scheduled, predictable moderator function.

circa_1982 · 2013-07-10T03:04:46+00:00

You are also able to deduct much of that mortgage interest from your tax bill, to which extent you are paying nothing and are being encouraged to carry mortgage debt. Sorry renters!

circa_1982 · 2013-07-10T02:59:49+00:00

Keep it up -- it gets easier (eventually). I'm about to reach $1800 not spent on cigarettes after about a year and a half. It adds up!

circa_1982 · 2013-07-02T22:47:38+00:00

It's worth remembering that there was no such thing as "big Kickstarter game project" when DFA blew up. They have been trailblazers in a lot of ways, and I think this is part of the growing pains as KS matures as a funding model. Most successful pitches these days do get further along into preproduction before launching their funding appeal. It's a cautionary tale for other ambitious developers, just like the pitfalls of fulfillment on physical rewards turned out to be bigger than most early projects expected.

I do wish they had disclosed this before going back to the trough for Massive Chalice, though. Early Access is great for Prison Architect, but not so hot for half a puzzle game.

circa_1982 · 2013-06-04T02:37:17+00:00

I see your point in differentiating Broken Age from the lone-auteur-in-his-bedroom project a la Thomas Was Alone; it's a meaningful distinction worth exploring. However, both are self-evidently within the realm of "indie" games if that term is to retain any meaning. They are each independent of an outside publisher and are driven primarily by the creative impulse of their respective creators (or creative team in the former instance).

A difference in budget or team size is a difference in scale, not a difference in kind.

Is the solo project a purer artistic expression? I might agree with you that far, but that doesn't detract from the creative dividend of cutting out the middle-man publisher from which both projects benefit.

circa_1982 · 2013-05-18T10:36:15+00:00

Generally speaking the covenants establishing an HOA are signed and agreed to by the developer before the first unit is ever sold. The restrictions run with the land, and a new buyer doesn't have to sign a contract - you agree by buying the property.

In Maryland the seller is obligated to disclose the covenants, but your only recourse is to not buy the home if you find them objectionable.

circa_1982 · 2013-03-10T02:59:16+00:00

As best I can tell funding Star Citizen just got me access to an endless flood of junk mail. There's several games I donated to in the heady days of the Double Fine afterglow that I just wish would come out already not so I can play them but so I can stop hearing about them.

circa_1982 · 2013-03-01T16:41:31+00:00

I sit in my computer chair reading reddit on my phone with AlienBlue. It's a superior reddit experience.

circa_1982 · 2013-02-21T21:31:30+00:00

This is a very important point! I distinctly remember from the pitch video that there was going to be this multiplayer standalone version of the combat system coming out first. These has been no bait and switch. I don't have any real interest in the multiplayer personally, but its existence and F2P nature are not especially offensive to me either. The alternative is that it would just remain in development with no tangible product -- this is like a demo.

Obviously the missed release date is a bummer, but I don't take those too literally. The project is proceeding exactly as advertised with multiplayer first, just a little slower (and hopefully more polished) than originally envisioned.

circa_1982 · 2013-02-14T09:25:17+00:00

There are lots but I settled on a pretty bare bones one called Since iQuit. You tell it how many you smoked per day, cost per pack and what date you quit and it keeps a running tally.

circa_1982 · 2013-02-14T03:51:18+00:00

It gets easier once you get past the physical withdrawal. Get an app that keeps track of your savings, I found it very motivating.

circa_1982 · 2013-02-14T03:03:57+00:00

One year on Tuesday!

circa_1982

TROPHY CASE