Sarah Roark

For once the crew at Something Awful have come up with an entire collection of unnecessary ads that are pretty much all funny, and also all safe to show Mom. Some quite good laughs in here, with ads for existence, depth, fire, and the like.

If I hear one more complaint about how "the new edition of D&D is all about combat," I'm going to go all about combat myself and beat someone.

Comparing core rules to core rules, 4E devotes more proportional attention to RP, characterization, and non-combat skill use than 3E does.

Yes, 4E removed "background" skills, and perhaps that was a mistake. (I agree that they shouldn't draw on the same pool as "useful" skills, but an optional, additional system would have been nice.) I'm in no way claiming it's perfect in all respects, and I'm not claiming it's the right game for all people. But the notion that it's any more combat-focused than prior editions would be laughable, if it hadn't reached the point of making me cry in frustration.

(And no, this is not directed at any specific post. It's a reaction to an aggregate of several.)

I don't know if anyone remembers it, but there's a PC game called Dungeon Keeper 2. Ruling a dungeon, attacking/being attacked by heroes, voiceovers from a guy with a lovely voice who comes out with things like "Your dungeon is full of yoghurt." Does it ring any bells with anyone?

I had a sudden craving for it today - it used to be my favourite PC game a few years back. The only problem is that even if I followed the instructions for getting it to run on XP (I'm not sure I remember now - the instructions said that you had to... Click on Propeties and set it to run in... Windows 22 mode?), it would crash. A lot. It would freeze up, and I'd have to do a complete reset to get it going again. I didn't mind so much on the family desktop, but um. I have a laptop now (running Vista), and the thought of it crashing has put the fear of god into me to the point that I don't even want to try installing it.

Has this happened to anyone else? If it did - would you mind sharing how you fixed it? I know now (I didn't then, or maybe I would've crashed my computer less >_> ) that there are patches, but - would they stop it crashing?

Failing that, does anyone have any reccomendations for games that are similar in tone or gameplay? I've a computer, PSP and DS, PS1 and 2, and an XBox, so the only real issue is actually getting hold of games.

Apologies for all the questions, but if anyone could help I'd be grateful. :)

The Game: Kobolds Ate My Baby!
The publisher: Dork Storm Press.
Degree of familiarity: Some, but honestly it doesn't take much. Played it at MarCon a couple of years back, and it's goddamn awesome.
Books required: Just the KAMB book.

( Beer and Pretzels! )

OK, then! Tomorrow: World of Darkness (like, a mortal character).

EDIT: JESUS CHRIST MY BRAIN.

Does anyone play Rock Band on xbl?
I've been doing lots of tug of war and score battle, and every time I'm about to win the other person quite...like a douchebag. Does this happen to anyone else?

..and does anyone else have rock band? I'm looking to play with people who won't quit if I'm about to win (and I don't quit..I suck it up lol)

Thanks!

So you all know of the Midsummer event, and I'm sure that you all saw one of those flame altars at one time or another... You know, the ones that if you danced with them turned you into a flaming draenei? Well, I really, REALLY wanted one, but I wasn't able to play on my main because she kept error 134ing and I could never get 10 steps anywhere...

Well, sometime around 3 in the morning she suddenly stopped erroring so I decided to try for the 350 burning blossom mark.

I started honoring and desecrating flames like CRAZY- from Desolace to Elwynn, Silithus to Feralas. I did this for about FOUR HOURS, and finally got my last ten at Nethergarde. I ran through the dark portal, flew to Shatt, and happily took the portal to Orgrimmar.

I was about halfway through the Drag, literally 15 seconds away from the vendor and my goal, when I see "You can only complete 25 more daily quests."

"No..." I think, "they didn't just take away the event..."


Oh how they did.


15 seconds away, guys... 15 seconds - AND AFTER FOUR HOURS!!! I was still in denial even after I saw that the bonfire wasn't there so I ran to Razor Hill - but to no avail.

I'm very, very sad and disappointed.

Just had to get this off my chest.

Would you prefer a shorter game over a longer one if it meant the shorter one was extremely high quality in all areas?

Some games I don't care how good they are, if I beat them in 5 hours, I want my money back. (That is, if I spent $50-$60 on them).

Well, it's earlier than I usually start working on this, but I'm kinda fried from writing Mage: Eww! Put it Back! all day, and I'd like to take my daughter to the playground.

She is, however, napping at present, and as any dad out there knows, you don't disturb the nap.

That in mind, I'll do today's chargen, and then go to the park. Which is appropriate, because today's game is:


The Game: Little Fears
The publisher: Key 20, originally.
Degree of familiarity: Some. I read it and ran a one-shot back in Atlanta, but I haven't played it or done anything with it since. In fact, I've studiously avoided reading it for about a year now because of my work on World of Darkness: Innocents.
Books required: Just the Little Fears book.

( On we go. )
OK, good to go. I'm not going to have much time tomorrow, so if I do a character, it'll be for a really short system. Making really short characters. Short-lived characters.

Say it with me, people.

ALL HAIL KING TORG!

Guess who gets to see Great Big Sea in concert in Tucson in October?

MEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SQUEE!!!!

Hey, greenlion: back in the day you helped me identify what turned out to be Cui Jian's album Rock and Roll on the New Long March. Well, there's a new-ish video for the title song, and it's a lot of fun, very gently satirical.

For the rest of you...Cui Jian is kind of the grand old man of Chinese rock, at it since the early '80s, often in trouble of one kind or another with the authorities, but very persistent, and enjoying a lot fewer hassles these days. This is very representative of his style, and one of the darned few videos of his I can find where the sound isn't just plain appalling.

And therefore, the next Hunter playtest is open.

Spread the woid.

01) Bold what is true about you.
02) Underline what is half true.
03) Italicize what you wish was true about you.
04) Add one true thing about you to the end of the list.
05) Tag five LJ friends.
06) Ask me anything about the bold/italicized/underlined.

I TAG EVERYBODY. TAG TAG TAG.

( Read more... )

I've decided to just go ahead and buy Lost: Via Domus for the PS3 online since it seems forbidden (or something :P) in stores around here. I've been looking on ebay, but the prices are just about the same as buying it from a big box store so my question to you is:

For those who shop online, where do you buy your new/used games?

Bonus points if it ships from Canada so I do not have to deal with our insane customs.

Several years ago, I created a community to share my writing with those who were interested.
Shortly thereafter I started writing so much for White Wolf that I forgot to post anything there... for three years running.

A friend asked to join it and I added him (Hi, naebler!) And, motivated by that, I posted my first new piece of fiction in three years there this morning. (I've written other fiction, just haven't posted it.)

Now I'm contemplating... I have this journal, with 597 friends on the f-list. I have my website (www.jesshartley.com) with writing excerpts. I have the community (jesswrites) dedicated (but not really used at this point) to showcasing my fiction and getting feedback.

How do I make the best use of all of them? How do I get my work out in front of people, but just the folks who want to see it?

Ideas and insights welcome. And consider this an open invitation to joinjesswrites if you have the interest.

Hello again, everyone.

Sorry I took such a long break, but after my last few non-review posts caused so much crap, I needed to get out of the blogosphere for a bit. One can only take so much drama. Anyway, these last few months, I've been giving Second Life a spin.

( oops, forgot the cut. :) )

A while ago, I brought Rogue Galaxy. 'Hey awesome, this looks cool!'
Then I proceeded to get whooped a couple of times, and then eventually stopped playing... at chapter four. sad, yes I know.

Yes, there is eventually a point to this... eventually :)

( Read more... )

Also, i've heard a bit about a Rogue Galaxy 2 in the works. Is this true? I'm salvating already :(

Thanks! :)

Well, here we are again, my fluffy little bunnies. Tonight's installment involves dead flesh! MMMM!

The Game: Promethean: The Created
The publisher: White Wolf Game Studio
Degree of familiarity: Very yes. I developed the four sourcebooks for the game line, wrote a small chunk of the core book, and ran a chronicle as well as a couple of one-shots here and there.
Books required: The World of Darkness Rulebook and Promethean: The Created.

So ( let's rock! )

Right, so that's today's. Tomorrow: Little Fears!

For those of you who do not already have the World of Darkness corebook, or who would like the PDF version, check out my website where I've posted a link to a free PDF version of the Core Rulebook. EDIT: Link Corrected -And, there's a Link to a free PDF of Scion: Hero there as well now.

Well, the year's half-done, so here's where my Discrete Media Consumption list stacks up so far for 2008:

( list be here )

Ken Weigel of Game Geeks did a video review of Midnight Roads. Links to it and other reviews of MR are up at my website, www.jesshartley.com.