catchup

[juldea]

Wow.... I haven't really posted in a while. Update time...

Move::
Our living room is still full of packed boxes, the couch is still upright in the kitchen... There's a lot to be done. Today is supposed to be about unpacking, but of course I haven't gotten any done... After I post here. I promise. ;) Bathroom, then kitchen, then work on the living room...

It's nice living together. I do feel like I'm walking a fine line between nagging and asking for simple things, sometimes, but neither one of us has blown up at the other about housework yet so it's good. Meals for two are nice, and having someone I can ask to run to the store for oil while I prepare other parts of dinner. And of course there's the convenience of nearby snuggles. :)

Recreation:
I'm playing Chrono Trigger for the first time ever, and having a fun time of it. I got yelled at once for giving up on a puzzle and googling for the answer (the Tyrano Lair warp room) but mostly I'm figuring things out, I think. I'm really not used to gaming though, really - londo has pointed out a few times, "Did you notice that your enemy has a wicked counterattack?" and I'm like, "What? Uh... He attacked. That's what enemies do. Sometimes they attack more than other times?" Heh. I try to tell people I don't have the mind of a gamer, but I guess they don't believe me. ;)

Still reading through The Wheel of Time series, currently on book 7. Also reading Warrior's Apprentice from the Vor books, and both of those will probably be shelved for a day when I get a copy of Harry Potter. ;) And my copy of An Ode To Billy Joe arrived...

Knitting: still on needles are the Rogue and my brother's Everton scarf. I just started on Soleil for myself as something to do quick and dirty, and I have bartered my services to someone to create them a kitten army from this pattern. Sounds like a fun stashbuster. :)

Bellydancing: Waiting for fall classes to begin.

SCA: Everyone's in their pre-Pennsic swing, so not much is going on that suits me. If I'm wrong, let me know. ;)

KoL: Still goin' strong. Meetup next weekend... god, I'm insane.

Employment/Career:
Still dislike my job, though not loathe, and lately it's actually been keeping me busy a lot (hence the lack of posting.)

Haven't given up on the Piano Tech school, just waiting for my transcript to arrive so I can apply. Should transcripts take this long? I need to call OU and find out what's up. *impatient*

I think that's about it... ask, if you can think of something that needed updating that I didn't give you. :)

Comments

[idonotlikepeas]

OMGCHRONOTRIGGER!

I just replayed that a couple of years ago. Definitely in the top five RPGs ever. I mean, not that you care. But it's cool!

[juldea.livejournal.com]

I do care! Reactions like this are the reason why I'm playing it in the first place. londo places it at the very top, you see, of all video games ever, therefore I must be missing out on something. ;) So he set me up to find out what I'm missing!

[idonotlikepeas]

Well, for me it's under Final Fantasy IV and VI. But to each his own. ;)

(Of course, there are also PC games like Fallout and Planescape: Torment...)

Remember to use New Game+, when you can. I'm sure Londo will show you how it all works. :D

[londo.livejournal.com]

6 and 4 (and yes, 7) are all also good... I have yet to experience the original Fallout, but 2 is quite good.

I'm also really pleased with System Shock 2, which is sorta an RPG.

I don't know if she's hardcore enough for New Game+

[idonotlikepeas]

System Shock 2 is excellent. Fallout 1 is basically the same as Fallout 2, but with fewer widgets to frob and a time limit for the game. (Although there's a patch that takes the second half of the time limit out.)

If you like SS2, you should definitely look into Deus Ex if you haven't already. That's the first one, not the second one.

And everybody needs a little New Game+ now and then. :D

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

System Shock 2 is excellent.

[grin] Glad you liked it! SS2 was the first game I ever got design credit on.

Planescape: Torment is way up there in my pantheon of favorite games of all time.

The Fallout games and the original Deus Ex are fairly high up there as well. I approve of games that you can play all (or at least the vast majority of) without killing people.

[idonotlikepeas]

On System Shock, I didn't so much "like" it as think it was "brilliant", but I'm not one to quibble. (Although I did get pissed about the continually-respawning monsters. I ended up turning the difficulty down just for that.)

Planescape: Torment is, in my opinion, the finest computer RPG produced to date.

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

Planescape: Torment is, in my opinion, the finest computer RPG produced to date.

I am close to that, but would qualify somewhat. Its *story* is, far and away, the richest and most satisfying I have ever encountered in a computer RPG. The actual mechanics of gameplay are, IMHO, above average but not exceptional.

[idonotlikepeas]

Mm. Well, I agree that the game mechanics could use some work. What I'm basing my statement on is the amount of enjoyment that the game contained (for me, at least); the story was able to compensate for the lack of armor, weird screen size, constant attack by plebians, etc. Whereas other games I've seen have had far superior systems but a story which failed to carry them.

I'm not saying Torment is perfect by any stretch of the imagination. I am anxious for someone to top it, in fact.

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

What I'm basing my statement on is the amount of enjoyment that the game contained (for me, at least)

An excellent metric for personal evaluations. And the one by which I claim that Star Control 2 is actually the Best Game Ever :-) (Although possibly since eclipsed by the Thief series...)

I am anxious for someone to top it, in fact.

We are the chorus, we agree, we agree.

[idonotlikepeas]

We are too happy, in this *slow time* *heavy space*. It is a better *level* for games!

(Incidentally, I noticed that you had "zeugma" on your interest list and friended you immediately. I hope this does not cause undue distress.)

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

I care not who friends me; it costs me nothing. I have too little time to do much new friending in return, I'm afraid. *frumple*

[londo.livejournal.com]

An undergrad friend of mine habitually plays Deus Ex with the philosophy of 'kill no mooks.' I.e, anyone who is plotfully important can die, but mercenaries just want a paycheck.

He often, but not always, concludes that MJ12 Commandoes have plot, really they do.

Personally, I'm upset that, no matter how hard I try, I cannot incapacitate Gunther. I *like* Gunther.

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

Personally, I'm upset that, no matter how hard I try, I cannot incapacitate Gunther. I *like* Gunther.

He can't be incapacitated, but he *can* be avoided. It's hella hard, but you can complete the plot point and run away from him in the Templar Cathedral. Mind you, future plot content seems to assume that he's dead, but at least *I* didn't do it :)

[londo.livejournal.com]

I've played Deus Ex a number of times.

I asked Alexx Kay here, after playing it, if he was pleased or pissed that the game was so incredibly derivative of SS2.

[idonotlikepeas]

Heh. Well, Warren Spector worked on both Deus Ex and System Shock 1, so I don't know if derivative is really the right word here. (Plus, SS2 and Deus Ex were released about ten months apart, which suggests that they were both in development at the same time.)

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

Which was more or less my response. Also, I have an attitude to game design similar to that which -- was it Terry Pratchett? -- anyway, I first heard it from Neil Gaiman -- has towards prose storytelling: It's a big pot of bubbling stew. You take things out of the pot, you put things into the pot. Just don't be foolish enough to claim (or believe) that you *own* the pot.

[idonotlikepeas]

Also: You spoony bard!

[juldea.livejournal.com]

New Game+? I have not heard of such a thing... And he's not here atm.

[ezrarashkae.livejournal.com]

Chrono Trigger..... is pretty fuggin sweet. I just hat to put in my $0.02 about that.

[idonotlikepeas]

Basically, after you beat the game you can play it again in a special mode with all of your old characters at their power as it was the last time you saved and retaining most of their items. By performing certain actions, the nature of which will be slightly more obvious after you beat the game the first time, you can cause the timestream to flow differently, which allows you to see a number of different endings. (One of which is a "Developers' Room" ending which lets you see personal messages from the developers. Really, really weird personal messages.)

You don't have the play through the whole game beginning to end to see these; a lot of the endings involve short-circuiting the plot. (In fact, all of them do. That's their basic nature. Heh.)

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Yay, alternate endings! Sounds like fun. I doubt I'll get to the end of the game for a while, though. ;)

I just got to the ice age.

[idonotlikepeas]

I love that whole sequence. "The black wind howls..."

[londo.livejournal.com]

She is not quite there yet - she JUST got to the Ice Age.

[ezrarashkae.livejournal.com]

Ice Age has some of the coolest monsters. And after you beat it the first time, the new game+ goes by REALLY fast. Like, 2-3 days usually. Sometiems a bit more.

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

FYI, the scanning of HP has begun (while I give my voice a rest). It's going to take quite a while, though. Rowling is deliberately using a lot of different typefaces in this one, so the error rate may be higher than usual...

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

Er, scratch that. Too many weird typefaces, so scanning has been aborted for the time being. Sorry :-(

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Thanks for trying!

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

check your gmail...

[juldea.livejournal.com]

My earlier comment still stands! ;)

[crazybone.livejournal.com]

Still reading through The Wheel of Time series, currently on book 7

Oh you poor, poor unfortunate soul. I got sucked into that series a few years back.
I like the world and some of the characters but for the love of the Creator man, end it and stop introducing new characters!
Have you read the prequel New Spring? I have to get around to reading it before the next one comes out.

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Heh, I first got sucked into WoT back in high school... revisit it every now and then. :) I haven't read New Spring yet, though. Will probably pick it up after I finish getting through the rest.

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Sounds like I should definitely call them, then.