Ace of Spades HQ

March 30, 2014

Gaming Thread 3/30/2014
— Gang of Gaming Morons!

Updated because I'm bad and just noticed that tsrblke had emailed me something

So yeah, Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion. Personally non-plussed about it. On one hand, Oculus now has the cash needed to get into production without going hat and hand asking for more venture capital. On the other, Facebook way overpayed for them as they own no patents (outside of the look of the headset) and though their name is somewhat known, it wouldn't be hard to replace it. That being said, Michael Abrash has now joined Oculus so you can rest easy at least at the moment. Personally the biggest thing I got from it was me giggling at the prospect of John Carmack now working for Facebook (of course, he's probably laughing all the way to the bank).

Of course you also get the fun of dumb people being dumb on the internet, whining about how they gave them money on Kickstarter and didn't seem to grasp that they sure as hell didn't get enough money through that to fund this endevor and have been asking for money from venture capitalists for two years now so their pie in the sky thoughts of a small boutique company keeping that image was already busted for the most part. Then of course you get the biggest tard of the bunch with a writer on Bloomberg being completely clueless on the concept of Crowd Funding. Hell, I'm not a fan of crowdfunding (if I give you money for your venture, I would like at least some equity in the transaction [says the man who donated to Privateer Press's Warmachine: Tactics Kickstarter --editor's edit]) but at least I know the concept of it.

*****************************************************
NEWS

• Of course with the Facebook & Oculus news and Sony finally announcing their Project Morpheous headset, Microsoft has been quietly scooping up patents dealing with AR for what you would assume to be their long gestating Fortaleza glasses. Kinda reminds me of Microsoft's shopping spree before they announced the Kinect. Personally my stance has and will probably always be that while VR has potential, AR has a future till at least hologram tech is more real than theoretical. Considering that old Microsoft roadmap from 4 years ago only has the glasses left to come to fruition, I'm curious if they will get to hit their initial 2014 date. And of course with AR, you also have Google still waiting to actually release their Google Glass to the public instead of being Dev only.

• The Jace Hall Show keeps rolling as he is now the new head of Twin Galaxies. Frankly didn't see that one coming.

• So yeah, Freemium mobile app revenue is jumping by leaps and bounds.

• NIS put out a new trailer for the upcoming Demon Gaze. Remember, the less clothing you wear, the more armor you have on

• There were two and now there are none as Justin Richmond (Uncharted 3 director) has left Naughty Dog. So I guess the guys behind Last of Us are now going to be behind the fourth game? Eh, considering those are the two that wanted to kill off Elena in the second game before Hennig stepped in, I'm a little skeptical on if the pulp is still there in this upcoming game.

• So I guess 25 people or so is too big for Travis Baldree and Erich Schaefer (founder's of Runic Games aka Torchlight) as they are leaving to start a new developer called Double Damage Games.

• Microsoft finds their new dev for Killer Instinct after Double Helix was bought by Amazon. Iron Galaxy (DiveKick and Wreckateer) gets to pick up the reigns for Season 2. Should be interesting in how they handle something kinda big.

• In the near future, UbiSoft has solved the mystery of shadows

• Creative Assembly's upcoming Alien: Isolation gets a release date, October 7th for the PC, PS4 and XBox One. Though CA has never had any success outside of their Total War games, I still hope this game doesn't suck (it probably will).

• What, you didn't think 3DRealms were done with the whole bloated dead corpse of Duke Nukem after selling it, did you?

• Though this Panzerhund vinyl statue is kinda cool looking, don't think it's $100 cool.

*****************************************************
NEW RELEASES

Age of Wonders 3 (PC) - In my humble opinion, this is the biggest release this week. It's been 11 years since the Shadow Magic expansion pack came out for AoW2 and I'm really curious on how well this is going to be considering in how much time I dumped into the games. Please don't suck.

Steins;Gate (PC) - JAST's release of Nitro+ and 5pb's time traveling visual novel is finally out after a few delays. The anime was good but the story works much better as a visual novel. I've got a copy of limited edition on the way, really loved going through it a few years ago with the translation patch. The story is awesome, the visual novel format doesn't grate on your nerves and it's just well put together.

Goat Simulator (PC) - Nice to see this finally come out after everyone has talked about it for the last few months. it looks goofy and it's only $10. You could do worse.

MLB 14: The Show (PS3) - The PS4 release is out next month and if you want a baseball, you have this or Out of The Park 2015 (which is out sometime next month) since there isn't any other baseball games being made after 2K Sports dropped the MLB2k series. Would love a new Power Pros game but nope, stuck with this if you don't want a a management game (and extremely awesome management game but management game none the less).

Ragnarok Odyssey ACE (PS3 and Vita) - This is an expanded version of the game that game out a few years ago which was a pretty good action RPG. You don't have to care at all about the Ragnarok Odyssey property to enjoy the game (frankly, the less interest in the property the better).

Elder Scrolls Online (PC) - Frankly, I really didn't care for this game in the betas. The zones are tiny, the combat is janky, the story sucked. I just don't see it being worth the $15 a month. I would wait till it's on sale if you need to play it but I dunno about launch price.

That's it, I'm done
Catch me on Twitter,
The Dude

*****************************************************

Hey Gaming horde, The Dude is busy over the next few weeks, so I collected some links for you all to discuss/complain about:

the IRS is going to try and tax Bitcoins as property, not currency. Yeah, good luck with that. I'm sure all Bitcoin users are ready and willing to disclose their currency values.

In case you've been under a rock Facebook bought the Oculus Rift, a VR device startup and some people in tech are not happy about it.. Occulus VR Minecraft was even scrubbed over the deal.
This also exposes a bit of the tension behind the Kickstarter Crowd Funding Mechanism. It's clear that Minecraft Creator Markus Persson does not like that his substanial donation ended up being used "to seed a first investment round to build value for a Facebook acquisition".
But this is the rub, kickstarters are not investors, they're at best pre-orders, occasionally charity and at worst just handing over people money for no good reason. I still don't get it (but if anyone wants to support a crowd fund of my dissertation, let me know!)

That gun running politican story is actually connected to video games! That's right he tried to ban violent games. I'm not sure if this is Fen's law or just stupid. Either way. (H/T to Allergic2bull for that link).

Well that's it. I have to go play "Real Life Simulator" adios.

--tsrblke

Posted by: Gang of Gaming Morons! at 11:36 AM | Comments (78)
Post contains 1332 words, total size 11 kb.

1 Oh yeah, today and tomorrow are the last days to buy the first Shin Megami Tensei on iOS for $5.99 instead of $7.99. If you like RPGs, it's worth dropping the cash on it.

Also, FTL comes out this week on iOS for $10

Posted by: The Dude at March 30, 2014 11:38 AM (bStrg)

2 shit, forgot to mention Nvidia's presser during the opening of GTC :/

Posted by: The Dude at March 30, 2014 11:41 AM (bStrg)

3 Facebook way overpayed for them

Facebook has nearly infinite financial resources based on a service no one pays for. Why not blow $2 billion for shits and giggles.

Also-still loving FFX HD. At least once I found the Thunder Plains cheat and could move on to other aggravating minigames.

Posted by: Methos at March 30, 2014 11:41 AM (hO9ad)

4 Posted by: Methos at March 30, 2014 03:41 PM (hO9ad) Everything facebook buys they do with various stock tricks. The numbers facebook pays might as well be made up IMHO.

Posted by: tsrblke, PhD(c) (No Really!) at March 30, 2014 11:43 AM (HDwDg)

5 Cool stuff!

Posted by: Zakn at March 30, 2014 11:43 AM (zyaZ1)

6 On the BookFace Rift. I really don't care. I think it's bad for gaming. I did like Coffee and Markets take on it because none of those dudes are gamers.

Posted by: Zakn at March 30, 2014 11:45 AM (zyaZ1)

7 Okay, which of you ruffians shot this arrow into my knee?

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD, you taunty bitch. at March 30, 2014 11:46 AM (Gk3SS)

8 This year's National Scrabble Championship is in Buffalo.
http://is.gd/yMBtqv

Posted by: HR at March 30, 2014 11:49 AM (hO8IJ)

9 Okay, which of you ruffians shot this arrow into my knee?

*sheepishly raises hand*

If it makes you feel any better, I think I have this longbow figured out now

Posted by: Methos at March 30, 2014 11:49 AM (hO9ad)

10 So when the hell does Fallout 4 come out?

Posted by: packsoldier at March 30, 2014 11:50 AM (6eFtZ)

11
*sheepishly raises hand*

If it makes you feel any better, I think I have this longbow figured out now
Posted by: Methos at March 30, 2014 03:49 PM (hO9ad)

Oh good. Then you'll have a fighting chance when the Ravage comes for you.

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD, you taunty bitch. at March 30, 2014 11:52 AM (Gk3SS)

12 Speaking of things I think I have figured out, I've been randomly mucking around with settings on my computer and finally just gave up and disabled Shockwave Flash, and what do you know, youtube videos work again. For the first time in six months.

Posted by: Methos at March 30, 2014 11:52 AM (hO9ad)

13 off topic, but a very funny take from the boys at the People's Cube on the "don't tread on my obamacare" thing. Scroll down a bit, you'll know it when you see it

http://tinyurl.com/l7n3zos

Posted by: mallfly at March 30, 2014 11:53 AM (bJm7W)

14 Ugh. I recently fired up Borderlands 2 whilst under the influence of several rum and Cokes and stupidly sold off my wicked cool health regenerating armor. While I'd come across those from time to time in the first Borderlands, they seem to be rarer than hens' teeth in B2. Crap crap crap.

Posted by: Sandra Fluke's solid gold diaphragm at March 30, 2014 11:54 AM (M5T54)

15 I liked the "no target" cheat in Quake II; it was fun to get the bad guys to fight each other.

Posted by: eman at March 30, 2014 11:56 AM (AO9UG)

16 As a reminder, there's only 8 days left until the official demise of Windows XP. If you're interested in archiving all of the patches from MS (in case you'd like to install XP inside of a VM or an ancient PC to play old games or something) then check out http://www.wsusoffline.net/. Note that Avast's browser protection threw a false positive at me upon downloading. But, after disabling it temporarily and then re-downloading the archive, Avast didn't complain upon a manual scan once extracted into a folder. Weird.

Posted by: Sandra Fluke's solid gold diaphragm at March 30, 2014 12:05 PM (M5T54)

17 So no Goat Simulator?

Posted by: eleven at March 30, 2014 12:05 PM (fsLdt)

18 I'd go shopping at Steam right now, but I'm drinking 10.6% ABV Imperial Russian Stout. Just had my first pint, actually got a head rush.

Posted by: Lincolntf at March 30, 2014 12:05 PM (ZshNr)

19 So no Goat Simulator?

Posted by: eleven at March 30, 2014 04:05 PM (fsLdt)

wasn't much to add after Ace's post yesterday

Posted by: The Dude at March 30, 2014 12:09 PM (bStrg)

20 I'd go shopping at Steam right now, but I'm drinking 10.6% ABV Imperial Russian Stout. Just had my first pint, actually got a head rush.

Posted by: Lincolntf at March 30, 2014 04:05 PM (ZshNr)

you should try playing one of the Grand Strategy games from Paradox when you're drunk

Posted by: The Dude at March 30, 2014 12:10 PM (bStrg)

21 9 Okay, which of you ruffians shot this arrow into my knee? *sheepishly raises hand* If it makes you feel any better, I think I have this longbow figured out now Posted by: Methos at March 30, 2014 03:49 PM (hO9ad) Its not an arrow... its a bolt...

Posted by: French Guy standing on a parapet, using a large frying pan as a shield at March 30, 2014 12:11 PM (84gbM)

22 or one of the Hacker Evolution games, those are fun when drunk

Posted by: The Dude at March 30, 2014 12:12 PM (bStrg)

23 So yeah, Minecraft is no longer occupying my cranium. This is due to Landmark (formerly known as EverQuest Next: Landmark) entering closed beta, thus allowing yrs. trly. to fiddle around with powerful tools and dig holes and such. So, drop by Kinuki's Adobe Outpost in the Courage Canal boonies and see a really crappy faux-Spanish mission structure. And stuff.

Posted by: Brother Cavil at March 30, 2014 12:12 PM (m9V0o)

24 Tried ESO in several different betas and had the exact same problem. Didn't care for the story and the zones seems small. I know its early on but shouldn't the idea of the first few areas be that they make you want to keep playing?

Posted by: The Fool at March 30, 2014 12:15 PM (cGlgB)

25 You know what's impossible with diminished capacity? NBA PC games. I know few of you play them, but unless you're a master of a sports game, in which case you could beat anyone in your sleep, it's impossible to keep up.

Posted by: Lincolntf at March 30, 2014 12:15 PM (ZshNr)

26 You know what's impossible with diminished capacity? NBA PC games. I know few of you play them, but unless you're a master of a sports game, in which case you could beat anyone in your sleep, it's impossible to keep up.

Posted by: Lincolntf at March 30, 2014 04:15 PM (ZshNr)

basketball games have nothing on the modern baseball games (that aren't stuff like Power Pros)

Posted by: The Dude at March 30, 2014 12:16 PM (bStrg)

27 I am suddenly remembering Bill Lambert's Combat Basketball for SNES.

Posted by: The Fool at March 30, 2014 12:18 PM (cGlgB)

28 Yes, Baseball is nigh on impossible.

Posted by: Lincolntf at March 30, 2014 12:18 PM (ZshNr)

29 Muscle/button memory doesn't do you any good when your eyes can't track.

Posted by: Lincolntf at March 30, 2014 12:19 PM (ZshNr)

30 main game I'm looking forward to next month is the new Outside Of The Park. I play that series religiously every year.

Posted by: The Dude at March 30, 2014 12:21 PM (bStrg)

31 Muscle/button memory doesn't do you any good when your eyes can't track.

Posted by: Lincolntf at March 30, 2014 04:19 PM (ZshNr)

for me and my friends, it's Dance Central for drunken gaming

Posted by: The Dude at March 30, 2014 12:22 PM (bStrg)

32 I'm a happy camper! I got my new gaming computer and the legendary version of Skyrim Tuesday and Wednesday -- also got a very nasty version of the stomach bug that's going around, which, along with a very iffy internet connection. The combination made setting up the computer and Steam quite a challenge. That actually helped distract me from how I felt, until I started upchucking late Wednesday, at which point I called it quits till the next day. Finally managed the basics late Thursday but was unable to get the wireless 360 controller to work. Gave up and started to play using the keyboard. That was yucky after using a controller, but great good GODS, I can't believe how much better it looks on a PC than it did on the Xbox! It's like an entirely different creature! Then today I remembered that I had an old wired controller tucked away somewhere. Found it, installed updated drivers, and now I have the best of both worlds -- controller plus console access. Like I said, very happy camper. And I'm over the stomach bug, too.

Posted by: Empire1 at March 30, 2014 12:22 PM (Ech2h)

Posted by: Empire1 at March 30, 2014 04:22 PM (Ech2h)

you ain't playing an Elder Scrolls game till you take a dive into the mod scene

Posted by: The Dude at March 30, 2014 12:24 PM (bStrg)

34 Hey Alex -- didn't that healing hands I cast on you work?

Posted by: Empire1 at March 30, 2014 12:26 PM (Ech2h)

35 Oh, yeah, that's another thing. People correctly advised me that using a controller for StrategyAdventure/RPG/Civilization-type games was not necessary. But try a dribble drive with a flip pass to the left wing while backing out of the key for a potential rebound with a bunch of A's and W's and D's and X's. I played that way for a day before gong to Gamestop and buying a wired controller. Whole new world.

Posted by: Lincolntf at March 30, 2014 12:28 PM (ZshNr)

36 Morrowwind has one of the best soundtracks. In a little bit of an Easter egg you can hear tracks from it if you get the Dragonborn expansion and wander around Solstheim.

Posted by: The Atom Bomb of Loving Kindness at March 30, 2014 12:28 PM (jqHOY)

Posted by: Lincolntf at March 30, 2014 04:28 PM (ZshNr)

yeah, can't imagine playing sports games with keyboard and mouse

Posted by: The Dude at March 30, 2014 12:29 PM (bStrg)

38 I need some opinions. I'm thinking of upgrading my gpu. I currently have an nVidia 240 GT running in an i3 system. I like it because it's very low power (no external power reqd). I don't have a lot of time or $$ for games so I don't usually play anything brand new but it's showing its age. I've been checking prices every now and then and it seemed that they were stagnant.

I took a look at Tom's Hardware's latest gpu guide and see the Radeon R7 260X at ~$121 and the nVidia GeForce GTX 750 Ti for ~$150. They're both well ahead of what I had. The nVidia is a couple steps up from the 260X and like my card doesn't require extra power, but is of course more expensive.

Anyway, any suggestions? I want to pay between $100 and $150. I've been using nVidia since I upgraded from a Diamond Speedstar+ (iirc) years and years ago but hear that the Radeons are more bang for the buck. Any opinions on these cards? nVidia vs. AMD in general at this price point?

Thanks!

Posted by: Where're my ping pong balls at March 30, 2014 12:29 PM (YxaXw)

39 The Dude -- As soon as I'm sure this thing's reliable. Are there any you'd particularly recommend? And yeah, mods are a good part of the reason I wanted a PC capable of Skyrim. My old one is still plenty good for everything else.

Posted by: Empire1 at March 30, 2014 12:30 PM (Ech2h)

40 PS: I use Tom's as a guide, not a bible. And part of the reason for not spending a lot of $$ on a video card is because my next upgrades will be memory (from 4GB) and the cpu/mobo.

Posted by: Where're my ping pong balls at March 30, 2014 12:32 PM (YxaXw)

41 if you're thinking of a 750, spend the extra $10-15 for the Ti version

Posted by: The Dude at March 30, 2014 12:34 PM (bStrg)

42 In the NBA game I'm playing, the Player is a permanent thing, like the main game is his whole career, and my first day of playing w/keyboard is when he established his skill levels/ draft position with an exhibition game/skill drills. It was a long wait at the Draft. Pick 26 to the Bulls. I've tried to resurrect his career with the controller, but he whole is too deep. Kid can't play at this level. I think Duke Omaha is going to retire prematurely, maybe open a combination petting zoo and brewery on the beach somewhere.

Posted by: Lincolntf at March 30, 2014 12:39 PM (ZshNr)

43 Hey Alex -- didn't that healing hands I cast on you work? Pretty sure it would have worked better if the hands went on the wound.

Posted by: Brother Cavil at March 30, 2014 12:39 PM (m9V0o)

Posted by: Empire1 at March 30, 2014 04:30 PM (Ech2h)

it's been awhile since I've played Skyrim but:

Pure Water

Better Embers
Vibrant Auroras

Daedric Corset

Sounds of Skyrim

Caliente's Body Mod

Real Glaciers

Deeper Snow

Open Cities

Legible Road Signs

Pure Weather

SkyUI

Immersive Armors

Quality World Map

Wet and Cold

Posted by: The Dude at March 30, 2014 12:41 PM (bStrg)

45 Yeah, I'm looking for a newer card since my GTX 460 is getting long in the tooth. It mostly keeps up at 60fps with all features at or close to maxed out at 720, but I'd like to actually make that jump to 1080. I'm thinking that my "sweet spot" is a GTX 760 so I've been hitting slickdeals.net daily for deals on them. I guess I should just set up an e-mail alert.

Posted by: Sandra Fluke's solid gold diaphragm at March 30, 2014 12:44 PM (M5T54)

46 The Dude -- Thanks, I'm making notes. What do you think about Ultimate Follower Overhaul?

Posted by: Empire1 at March 30, 2014 12:45 PM (Ech2h)

47 41 if you're thinking of a 750, spend the extra $10-15 for the Ti version

Posted by: The Dude at March 30, 2014 04:34 PM (bStrg)

Yeah, it's the Ti I'm thinking of. Is there any general reason to recommend nVidia over AMD or vice-versa, as far as drivers/issues/performance etc?

Posted by: Where're my ping pong balls at March 30, 2014 12:47 PM (YxaXw)

48 Yeah, it's the Ti I'm thinking of. Is there any general reason to recommend nVidia over AMD or vice-versa, as far as drivers/issues/performance etc?

Posted by: Where're my ping pong balls at March 30, 2014 04:47 PM (YxaXw)

they've gotten better but AMD's drivers still suck for the most part after all these years. And with bitmining jacking up the prices on their cards, they're not best bang for the buck

Posted by: The Dude at March 30, 2014 12:50 PM (bStrg)

49 Brother Cavil -- Um, the Skyrim version can be cast from a distance. So if you can get your aiming point on the person you want to heal, it works. Whole-body, not specific area.

Posted by: Empire1 at March 30, 2014 12:50 PM (Ech2h)

50 Re: GPU - search for "Passmark GPU" It's not a perfect measure but rarely does it get the *order* wrong on which is going to be better. I'm scratching my head a little at the controller thing. I mean, you can't *point* for crying out loud. It's such a basic behavior. The thing the KBM setup lacks is analog sliders - throttle, for example. A KBM setup with a couple of slider/wheel type controls would, I think, be ideal. I know a lot of console games are really designed for the controller, but my whole experience with comparing the two is that using the controller is like playing while drunk and up to your neck in molasses. Anyway, ESO: the video was crassly predictable. Man. I played the beta, I was not impressed enough to pay, I kind of rate it as "like other MMOs with a couple of cool things but meh." There are lots of flaws and even the last beta was bug-riddled. I have zero care for factions or PVP ever. But the one thing I don't get is the "small zones" thing. Is that PVP? Because in PVE there are just a ton of different zones, and I don't see them as being noticeably smaller than other games, and they're about as big as I would want to travel across anyway. But everyone complains about that. (scratches head)

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith[/i] [/b] [/s] [/u] at March 30, 2014 12:51 PM (qyfb5)

51 oh and if you want slutty characters in Skyrim, I can give you a whole nother list.

As for small areas in TESO, the first person perspective hides it but they really are small that leads to mad dash to finish your quests while waiting for people to kill the things you need to kill.

Posted by: The Dude at March 30, 2014 12:54 PM (bStrg)

52 AMD vs Nvidia is still insane fanboy territory for the most part. Still, absolute high end belongs to Nvidia, price-performance in the midrange *often* belongs to AMD, but watch sales. The one thing AMD can't seem to get right is scaling - if you connect with HDMI (like an HDTV or my HP 23" desk monitor), AMD cards scale down 10% to avoid some bugs with older HDTVs. But it can be a ************* son of a ***** to turn off sometimes, and sometimes you have to hack the registry or turn it off every time you start the computer or attach the monitor. So that's pretty annoying, especially since AMD used to be the king of home theater. I *wish* I could get a new card, no time soon probably, and sooner or later I will hit a game I can't play - though my creaking and groaning 4890 in my 6-year-old gaming PC still plays Skyrim at 1080p on high detail with no overclocking.

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith[/i] [/b] [/s] [/u] at March 30, 2014 12:59 PM (qyfb5)

53 You aren't nonplussed if you don't care one way or the other.

Posted by: Lady Billingsgate at March 30, 2014 01:01 PM (0PYey)

54 As for small areas in TESO, the first person perspective hides it but they really are small Posted by: The Dude at March 30, 2014 04:54 PM (bStrg) fnord (bStrg) I don't even know what small areas really are small means, but if you mean open instances don't have enough "stuff" or have too many people, that's true, and also true of every other MMO I've played where you end up waiting in line like at Didneyland. But that's not what I think when I think "zone," I think of like one of the islands or regions in the game.

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith[/i] [/b] [/s] [/u] at March 30, 2014 01:01 PM (qyfb5)

55 E1 if you look on skyrim nexxus they have their files broken down by catagory if you sort them by most downloaded you will get a good idea of what are the best ones there is a quest mod called rebuilding helgen that is amazing

Posted by: rain of lead at March 30, 2014 01:16 PM (emQ8O)

56 E1 if you look on skyrim nexxus they have their files broken down by catagory if you sort them by most downloaded you will get a good idea of what are the best ones there is a quest mod called rebuilding helgen that is amazing

Posted by: rain of lead at March 30, 2014 01:16 PM (emQ8O)

57 Hmm -- thanks, RoL. Rebuilding a town does sound like the sort of thing I'd like. I do enjoy the building involved in Hearthfire.

Posted by: Empire1 at March 30, 2014 01:22 PM (Ech2h)

58 don't know how I got the double post

Posted by: rain of lead at March 30, 2014 01:23 PM (emQ8O)

59 E1 there are also a couple of build your own house mods that are waaay better than hearthfire

Posted by: rain of lead at March 30, 2014 01:33 PM (emQ8O)

60 Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at March 30, 2014 04:59 PM (qyfb5) All I know is that I've had *three!* Nvidia graphics cards go out in less than four years. Two of those were in the last six months. And I thought I hated the tech part of computers *before* all this

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at March 30, 2014 01:37 PM (GDulk)

61 All I know is that I've had *three!* Nvidia graphics cards go out in less than four years. Two of those were in the last six months. And I thought I hated the tech part of computers *before* all this .

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at March 30, 2014 05:37 PM (GDulk)

which manufacturer(s)?

Posted by: The Dude at March 30, 2014 01:40 PM (bStrg)

62 Posted by: The Dude at March 30, 2014 05:40 PM (bStrg) Aren't all Nvidia cards manufactured by the same company? I honestly wouldn't know what specific manufacturer if that's the case as it's very much in *everyone's* bests interest that I not go poking around inside a computer.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at March 30, 2014 01:43 PM (GDulk)

63 depends on if they're the reference design or not. I personally tend to stick to MSI or EVGA due to their warranties

Posted by: The Dude at March 30, 2014 01:46 PM (bStrg)

64 One of the things to check on the Nexus for mods is the comments/questions section - see what problems and conflicts people are having. I re-iterate my recommendations - unofficial bugfix patches are essential. Thousands of bugs, some of them game-stopping or at least savegame-ruining for some quests. I don't do this but it's better to play a game through with one set of mods rather than adding or removing them. Set up a dummy character and test a ton of mods, settle on a list, then start a new character. I have like 20-25 characters, I start a lot of new ones. I like Caliente's Better Bodies mod, I think it's just more compatible with the other mods I tend to use. Ethereal Elven Overhaul because stock elves are actually kind of ugly. I use the Player Size Adjuster and First-Person Camera Height Fix because the camera in first-person mode is about at belt level instead of eye level and that's really annoying to me. Also, this *slightly* helps with the Crouching Arrow Bug that has never been fixed - arrows don't fire from eye level but from camera level, so when you crouch you basically can't shoot at a down angle off a ledge, the arrows bounce off the floor. I love sneak archers so this is a constant annoyance. The patch only helps, no one has fixed this one. Different people seem to have different experiences here. Acieve That! is fun, provides more achievements and little bonuses to abilities or skills for achieving them. SKSE to support SkyUI and other mods, Better Dialogue Controls, Better MessageBox Controls - I though the interface was **** as delivered. Some bugs have been fixed here. I use an Essential NPCs mod so I don't have townsfolk I want to talk to killed by dragons while I'm away, and ruin quests or just the atmosphere - pretty much all of Riverwood was killed at one point, it was very annoying. Populous and Inconsequential NPCs help the place seem more populated, though learn the "disable" console command (trust me you will do this to the town crier they add in Solitude). Some of these NPCs can bug as part of the Civil War quest and go hostile everywhere, which sucks. I use Random Alternate Start to save time, and it lets you choose whether to activate the main quest in-game, but some of the places it puts you are hilariously dangerous (like inside a dungeon, it loves dropping me near Markarth next to a Forsworn camp). I have over 160 mods, many of them enhancing towns with more vegetation, lighting, characters, also changing the styles of the smaller towns' buildings to be more unique. Also some small stuff like changing arrow speed, forging arrows at the forge, making unread books glow (I make lots of new characters and I've read all the books), that kind of thing.

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith[/i] [/b] [/s] [/u] at March 30, 2014 01:51 PM (qyfb5)

65 All I know is that I've had *three!* Nvidia graphics cards go out in less than four years. Two of those were in the last six months. And I thought I hated the tech part of computers *before* all this . Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at March 30, 2014 05:37 PM (GDulk) fnord (GDulk) Yeah definitely get the longest warranty you can. Many companies make cards based on these chipsets, so the choice isn't really just AMD vs Nvidia but also HIS vs MSI vs Sapphire vs Nvidia vs AMD vs etc. My HIS ATI 4890 was replaced after less than a year under warranty and the replacement has lasted five years, so there's that. I have two older working actual ATI cards that still work, but I have two failed ATI cards from my Mac, so there's that. I have been an ATI shop all along, but I might go Nvidia next time based on price (and the ******* scaling thing).

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith[/i] [/b] [/s] [/u] at March 30, 2014 01:55 PM (qyfb5)

66 For drinking and gaming I like Tropico 4. The slow pace means your twitch reflexes are not needed, and having a rum and coke while building a rum distillery is all kinds of awesome.

Posted by: Pilot141 at March 30, 2014 02:17 PM (nPwzA)

67 Yo, Dude, your last link is hosed up. Anyway, as Yee isn't a mere Fox News spokeshead but, rather, a gun smuggling Democrat politician, the revelation that he's on-board with banning violent video games will likely get little attention. I certainly don't foresee the furry on Angry Joe's blog ranting about it.

Posted by: Sandra Fluke's solid gold diaphragm at March 30, 2014 02:24 PM (M5T54)

68 60 Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at March 30, 2014 04:59 PM (qyfb5) All I know is that I've had *three!* Nvidia graphics cards go out in less than four years. Two of those were in the last six months. And I thought I hated the tech part of computers *before* all this . Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at March 30, 2014 05:37 PM (GDulk) I tend to go with asus built nvidias. I did have one go bad on me after like 5 years of usage so I'm sticking with them. I also like their monitoring software such as allowing you to program fan speed with temperature range. I'm currently running 2 gtx660ti cards in sli.

Posted by: Buzzion at March 30, 2014 02:26 PM (z/Ubi)

69 Among Skyrim mods, I liked Gifts of the Outsider, which gives you the powers in Dishonored. Blink let's you scale mountains that otherwise you go round and round looking for the path up. You also get the power to stop time while you slice and dice the enemy. Falskaar is a big mod adding a whole new area to explore with an interesting story. Wet and Cold killed my CPU and was unplayable for me, though it is highly reputed.

Posted by: waelse1 at March 30, 2014 02:32 PM (FU4Eq)

70 Okay, back to #3- what is this cheat that you speak of? When I replay the game, I'd like not be bashing my head against the wall.

Posted by: Matt B at March 30, 2014 02:34 PM (XQ3LI)

Posted by: Sandra Fluke's solid gold diaphragm at March 30, 2014 06:24 PM (M5T54)

missing " at the end of the link. It's been fixed

Posted by: The Dude at March 30, 2014 02:37 PM (bStrg)

72 Making the comments reappear.

Posted by: Buzzion at March 30, 2014 02:37 PM (z/Ubi)

73 Goddamit! Now I'm watching more videos on AOW3 and waiting to buy it tomorrow. The timesuck man...the TIMESUCK!!11!

Posted by: CitizenEgg at March 30, 2014 02:54 PM (YKoym)

74 I was an AMD fan for a long time, but nvidia has been kicking that ass. I don't bitcoin mine, so I'm not paying a premium

Posted by: Zakn at March 30, 2014 03:14 PM (zyaZ1)

75 Thanks all. I can't even remember the brands of nVidia cards I've had. My current 240 GT is a PNY which I got almost 3 years ago for $50 after rebate. It's still going although the fan housing gets incredibly clogged with dust. I think the previous one might have been an EVGA or MSI.

I've yet to have a video card crap out on me. I was thinking of a Radeon just to switch it up for once but it sounds like sticking with nVidia might be the thing to do. I usually pick a target card or two and then another one just above my price range and then get the first one that goes on sale (e.g. slickdeals). So I get my original pick cheaply or a better one around the original's price.

Posted by: Where're my ping pong balls at March 30, 2014 03:29 PM (YxaXw)

76 Aren't all Nvidia cards manufactured by the same company? I honestly wouldn't know what specific manufacturer if that's the case as it's very much in *everyone's* bests interest that I not go poking around inside a computer.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at March 30, 2014 05:43 PM (GDulk)

No, nVidia makes the processor, other companies build the card. It's like different cars using the same engine, with the cars having different addons that give you a smoother enjoyable ride.

Without knowing exactly why your cards failed, all I can say is buy quality brand cards that have a long warranty (ASUS, MSI and Gigabyte have served me well), and make sure your computer is well ventilated by keeping dust covers clear and the computer in a spot where it can get cool air.

Posted by: ConservativeMonster at March 30, 2014 04:04 PM (M9BzG)

77 So that Demon Gaze trailer really reminds me of Etrian Odyssey. First-Person dungeon crawling with customized parties.

But with a few more scantily clad chicks.

Posted by: ConservativeMonster at March 30, 2014 04:06 PM (M9BzG)

78 Thank you all for the mod tips! My notes are starting to seem insufficient, so I've bookmarked the page (which also means I'm less likely to lose the info). I'll definitely get the Essential NPCs one, since I'm all too familiar with losing 'em due to dragons, vampires, and the occasional non-Guild thief. Probably also the Ultimate Follower Overhaul, since for the time I had Serena and Marcurio both last time, I found it very useful having two mages to cover my back! Alternate Starts is likely, too. Then I start adding adventure modules. This time, though, I'll take Merovign's advice and just go with the basic while I learn the console and how to handle the all-too-many glitches in *just* the basic version and official add-ons. As it is, I'm mostly doing things like giving merchants extra gold so I don't have to run all over the province to sell one or two dungeon runs' worth of loot. I did that in Oblivion, and it was a wonderful frustration-reliever. Thanks again to you all!

Posted by: Empire1 at March 30, 2014 04:13 PM (Ech2h)

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