The problem with having this many talented front pagers is every time I want to write something, someone else has already posted about it. I need to get a damned blog.
On the other hand, this does allow me the opportunity to discuss fun stuff. For example, has anyone played the Rift beta? Describe it, if you have. How does it compare to Warcrack?
Is anyone else excited about Dragon Age II?
Have any of you read any of the Dresden series by Jim Butcher? Apparently it is about a private eye/wizard in modern Chicago, or something thereabouts. According to wikipedia, Spike from BTVS is the voice in the audio book versions, which I thought was interesting.
Finally, is anyone else ready for some sunshine so you can garden and get the yard in order? I’m so sick of everything being grey and nasty I am excited to mow grass.
Angry Black Lady
i was about to say. what about John Cole presents John Cole?
it’s snappy. and tyler perry-esque.
cyntax
Cautiously excited about Dragon Age 2. Like that the warden will now be voiced (that silent things was just weird), too bad about how that collapsed some of the gameplay options.
Also, the significant other will not be happy if I let myself get sucked into this one like I did the first.
Cris
Sorry, Violet already posted about this.
cyntax
@Angry Black Lady:
Maybe Tunch presents John Cole?
khead
Never played the first one.
Should I go pick it up out of the bargain bin?
I am still playing this on a regular basis though. Very crack-ish.
J. A. Baker
I saw an ad for Darkspore while perusing GameFAQs.com recently. It’s an action RPG by the folks who made Spore. It’s currently in beta, but it looks like it could be interesting.
Aaron
I am actually pretty excited for Dragon Age II and Skyrim later this year. Nerdgasm!
Sentient Puddle
Dragon Age II demo is up on Steam, and I’m told by a friend that completing it gets you some bonuses in the full game. He could be lying, however. I do have to play through it myself.
When’s it supposed to be coming out again? I ordered it on Amazon a while back, and while it might be fun to find out the release date by having it in a box on my front porch, it might also be useful to clear my schedule around that day.
Immanentize
In Boston area is rain and blechhh today. Some basements have been compromised reminding everyone of last year’s disaster rains. Dirty piles of ice/snow still four feet high by the streets.
Cleansing rain and sun afterwards, please!
Linkmeister
Butcher’s The Dresden Files is a very entertaining series of urban fantasy. A wizard private eye? What could be cooler than that?
Nicole
I’m looking forward to the growing season so I can again attempt to sprout a cutting from my great-aunt’s 75-year-old miniature orange tree. My aunt and I managed to get a cutting to sprout last May, but it died this November. I’m devastated. So much so that the little 10-inch corpse is still in my living room. I can’t bear to say goodbye.
wsn
@cyntax:
Also excited about Dragon Age 2.
Which gameplay options would those be that are collapsed?
J. A. Baker
@cyntax: LOL! So true.
Rosalita
I’m going to put my favorite chair on my deck and sit in the sun in my coat if I have to. Need sun! Garden still has a couple feet of snow on it.
kindness
John, try using a good pseudonym. Look what a bad one did for Sarah Palin.
J. A. Baker
What are you talking about, John? It’s been sunny and warmish for the better part of the week here in Austin.
PurpleGirl
Eagerly awaiting sunshine and warmer temps so I can sit on my terrace. Also eat out there. I like it in the morning and just at sunset. I’d need to get some large containers to do any gardening — I’m on the 17th floor with South-Southwest orientation.
feebog
Read a couple of the Butcher novels. Not particularly impressed.
Another Commenter at Balloon Juice (fka Bella Q)
The Butcher Dresden files books are worth a read, if only for the very funny wee faeries who help the wizard out. I’ve only read a few of them, after getting the first one as a gift, but I do enjoy them. However, do not read them immediately following reading a Robert Crais Elvis Cole/Pike book. Or you won’t enjoy them nearly as much; he is a master.
muddy
I haven’t read the Dresden books, but did watch a short-lived tv series based on it some years ago, that was entertaining.
As far as mowing, I would have to mow 3 feet of snow off first before I got the the grass. I am unsure if I would bag the snow and put it on the compost pile or mulch it and leave it to help the new crop of snow grow better.
BudP
Anybody read Daemon and Freedom by Suarez? They are my last two books.
kdaug
Got a couple buddies at Trion (so they have a vested interest) but apparently they had over a million sign up for the beta of Rift. Pretty impressive.
Not a huge MMO fan myself – as a dev (tech art) I get annoyed by the 12y.o. banter. I’m waiting for Skyrim, though, and looking forward to the new Witcher.
cyntax
@wsn:
We can only play humans now. So not the end of the world but I did find the range of different origin stories to be fun.
cynickal
The Dresden Files are good. It was hard to grind through the first book because “Dresden” kept reminding us every other paragraph that he was a wizard.
(Did you know he’s a wizard?)
The writing really improves as the series progresses.
I got up through the first 7 books and they kept getting better.
Also good along that line are The Laundry Files by Charles Stross.
No opinion on Rifts since I went back to City of X until Warhammer 40k is released.
BethanyAnne
I have DA2 on preorder from Amazon. I just downloaded the demo last night :)
Mike Kay (Peacemaker)
I didn’t know John Travolta was bald
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1359129/John-Travolta-leaves-hairpiece-home-embraces-baldness-holiday-Hawaii.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
Wow, Barbarino is 57.
blondie
The Dresden series is excellent, and gets better as it goes on. Butcher has made clear in other places that he stumbled into this series when what he really wanted to do was write fantasy fiction; gee, wish I could make a goof like that!
The best part is the way the series grows in complexity and insight over time. Magic doesn’t hurt either!
Old Gringo
I still don’t know what to make of “this“. But since John was curious, I thought he might like this post by Rortybomb today:
Zifnab
Anything BioWare puts out is pure gold.
I’m definitely eager to play it.
On a related note, the new Patrick Rothfuss book just dropped and that man writes a damn fine fantasy novel. “The Wise Man’s Fear” will consume my next few weeks.
kdaug
@J. A. Baker:
Jeez. How many of us Austinites ARE there here?
wsn
@cyntax:
While I thought the origin stories were pretty cool, the fact that the next 80% of the game was identical made me feel the execution wasn’t as good as it could have been.
Still, YMMV and all.
Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther
Can I tell you what I’m excited about for my weekend?
I’m getting on a plane, by myself, to go hang out with and talk to and listen to professionals who obsess privately and professionally about the very same things about which I obsess privately and professionally.
AND I’M DOING IT IN NEW SHOES.
I cannot tell you how border-line giddy I am about this. It’s all very well and good to work from home, but I have (literally) not been to a face-to-face professional gathering IN EIGHT YEARS.
That calls for caps, my friends.
Sentient Puddle
@kdaug:
+1
elmo
Love, love, love the Dresden series. I’ve read all of them, and recently got all of the audiobooks as well just so I can listen to James Marsters.
Dresden’s first name is Harry, so I occasionally have a little mental fun imagining that this is what Harry Potter grew into.
Mark S.
@J. A. Baker:
Did anybody like Spore? I thought it was terrible. Five crappy RTS (which, granted, aren’t really my cup of tea) games in one.
Portal 2 is coming out soon. Elder Scrolls V: Something is in November I think. Those are the two games I’m looking forward to.
CaelanAegana
I started reading the first Dresden book. Got maybe 20 pages into it before I gave up. Couldn’t tell if the character was just supposed to be a prick or the author was deliberately ignorant, but the minute the character started going on about how science is bullshit I couldn’t stand it anymore. I understand it’s fiction, but I still think it was way too much asshatery for 20 pages into the fricking book. Kat Richardson’s Greywalker series is much less pretentious.
OT: Does the text in the posts/comments sometimes run way past the page margins for anyone else? Is making it impossible to read the articles. (IE7 WINXP)
khead
@Mark S.:
I thought Portal was really cool. And difficult.
Got it as part of “The Orange Box”.
Zam
I will use this time to say my WoW account got hacked last night and I am pissed.
Also
Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther
@Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther: Oh lord, I’m an idiot.
Perfect opportunity to blog flog, and I just get giddy.
Here’s me being excited about going places: http://emilylhauserinmyhead.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/ive-been-everywhere/
kdaug
@Mark S.:
That’s Skyrim.
Mr. Poppinfresh
I was in the Rift beta and have ordered a copy, so I’m currently in the “Head Start” launch.
It’s an excellent game, all told- very polished by MMO launch standards (I used to work in the industry, so I’m impressed with how finished it is). It’s definitely derivative of WoW in a lot of ways, but then WoW was derivative of Everquest and other games, so that’s hardly a knock.
It pretty much does everything WoW does right, but with some cool additions. The public events, aka the titular ‘rifts’, are great stuff. The planar entities can come through these gigantic portals in the sky (the water ones look like a giant squid is ripping through the sky, dripping water everywhere), and if left unchecked they will spread across the zone and conquer the player towns. Keeps things lively, for sure.
In addition, the character creation and customization system has a LOT more depth than WoW, so you can really customize your gameplay style. You can also hot-swap out templates, so with one click you can go from a WoW-style ‘Hunter’ to a WoW-style ‘rogue’. Definitely a nice touch.
Finally, the world is just… grittier. Personally, I think WoW has gotten a little too tongue in cheek with it’s Paris Hilton references, and I like the magical steampunk thing the Defiants have going.
Overall, if you like WoW, definitely worth a check. As someone above said, they sold a crapload of copies, so they’re furiously adding servers (the number of servers more than doubled yesterday), so you won’t be alone in newbland.
jeff
The Dresden Files TV series is on Netflix streaming if you want to check it out
freelancer
This smacks of Front Pager capture.
BethanyAnne
I adored Portal. It was why I bought the Orange Box. More Half Life was just a bonus.
wsn
@Mark S.:
I’m worried about Portal 2. The first was so inspired that I wonder if it’s possible to follow it up.
Still, I guess if there’s some more good portal puzzles it will be fun, even if it the story bits aren’t as good.
twiffer
played the DAII demo. combat is helluvalot faster. not sure about talent progression yet, seems to be less flexibility. dialogue trees have been ported over from mass effect, but that’s not a bad thing.
i will play. i will enjoy.
have you seen the latest skyrim trailer though? holy fuck am i waiting for that game.
kindness
I don’t know what you all are craving about. Winter is the one time of year I don’t have to mow the damned yard and this year (N. Cal) I had to start mowing the damned thing in January!. I prefer it to stay cold till March but this year no luck. Be careful what you wish for you may very well get it.
daveNYC
The short lived Dresden Files series is on Netflix, moderately entertaining.
I played the Rift open beta, but I haven’t touched Warcrack in many years. Rift is very similar to what I remember Warcraft being like. The initial quest line is pretty good, at least better than what I remember Warcraft being. There’s always piles of quests to do, seriously piles. The rift public quest mechanic is pretty neat too. You’ll just get a chance to lay the beatdown on extra-planar dudes, or some mortals from the other faction in the game.
It’s new, and it’s a nice evolution of the genre, but it doesn’t add anything revolutionary to the MMO mix.
I’m iffy about DA2. I never finished DA1, the game just kicked my ass. I never got the hang of the combat or whatever. Not to mention that playing as a rogue doesn’t help when most of the major combats involve the game stopping, de-stealthing you, and starting a freaking conversation with the big bad. Harumph.
I should probably go back and try to complete it using three mages, that’s supposed to be gravy.
Mark S.
@khead:
I’ve watched some previews and it looks like Portal 2 is going to be a lot harder.
Has anyone ever tried to play Portal on Xbox? I found it really freaking hard to line up portals with the crappy xbox controller. That’s one game that really needs to mouse and keyboard.
Mr. Poppinfresh
…am I really the only one here nerdy enough to talk about Rift?
Goddamn, its like high school all over again.
Cris
As for me, I just dug out my Super Nintendo and have been playing Wild Snake with the four-year-old.
I also dug out the 2600, but didn’t have the right equipment to plug the RF out into my antenna-in port.
gbear
Can I talk about something not fun? My 17 year old kitty is very close to death. Like today. I’ve spent as much time as I dare talking to and petting her, but it only seems to interrupt her process of letting go. I’m keeping an eye on her but trying not to disturb her any more. She doen’t appear to be in any pain but she meows when she realizes she can’t get up any more. Christ this sucks. Advice welcomed…
Chuck Butcher
Don’t know if excited is a good word though some time ago I pre-ordered the “collectors” version. I still prefer 1st person to 3rd and open maps – ex:Fallout & Oblivion.
Gardening here is a real iffy proposition with late and early frosts thanks to 10K elv right outside the 3500 valley. Lack of rain and that means I find it pointless and my wife gave it up.
Shinobi
I’m SO excited about DAII, also very excited about the Dragon Age Web Series featuring Felicia Day. It looks awesome, and she is pretty with pointy ears.
My boyfriend played Rift for a while during their beta but he was unimpressed with the difference from WoW. Since we have a small group of friends who play wow together it is hard to break into new games. (League of Legends we do play a lot of. This is not always good for my blood pressure or my faith in the future of humanity.)
I have read some of the Dresden Files books, but I don’t like long series. The TV show was fun though, it started off a little weird, but eventually got better. We got it off Netflix.
I got a key for the Darkspore beta this weekend which I will be trying out.
I’m currently waiting to get my copy of the new Sims Medieval when it comes out, which I know makes me weird, but it looks fun!
kdaug
@Cris: I won a game of Minesweeper yesterday.
cyntax
@wsn:
Yeah, the real differentiation wasn’t in the remaining 80% of the game, more’s the pity.
It’ll be interesting to see what they do with the idea of using an unreliable narrator. That’s a bit of step up in terms of pushing the game’s narrative to a more complex level (assuming it “works”).
JGabriel
John Cole:
No, but I confess that I’m looking forward to the release of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
.
Another Commenter at Balloon Juice (fka Bella Q)
@gbear: Sorry about that; it sucks. You might check with your vet practice for advice. It’s good that she seems not to be in pain (you’d be able to tell if she were) and you’re astute and thoughtful to recognize that petting is interfering with the process.
My intuitive sense is that this is much harder on you than on her, at this point. I have no good advice. It sucks. They leave such enormous paw prints on our hearts.
JGabriel
Chuck Butcher:
Same here. Much more fun that way.
.
daveNYC
Elder Scrolls V. Oh yeah. I’m a total sucker for those sandbox games.
R-Jud
@kdaug:
I scored a million points playing Bejeweled 3. Beats trying to write anything– at least lately.
Swellsman
I really enjoy the Dresden Files — have read all of them, including the recently released collection of short stories that fill in gaps between the series. They are a fun, quick, breezy read.
One thing, though . . . I got nothing against Butcher (in fact, for the sake of entertainment he provides if for nothing else I quite like him) but if you read too many of these things at once you almost can’t help but come to the conclusion that Butcher is a fantasy geek.
(As someone else pointed out already, he makes no bones about the fact that his first passion always has been sword-n-sorcery fantasy.)
And that’s alright, I spent most of my life growing up as a fantasy geek too. But if you read Dresden book after Dresden book it is borne in upon you that this is what a really cool, very powerful wizard would be if he was, y’know, invented by a fantasy geek.
Chuck Butcher
@JGabriel:
I don’t like to order this far out from release, in a couple mos I will.
I have a friend who is threatening to sue me for ordering a copy of ES IV for him a couple months ago. I laugh because he hasn’t dl-ed everything though he used my “collectors” disc and has yet to do Shimmering Isles.
RobertB
– Go hunt up Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 if you haven’t played those.
– A bunch of ex-Warcraft players of my acquaintance have taken up Rift. As a short-bus kind of WoW player, I still can’t wrap my mind around Rift’s class system. The Rift mechanic seems lifted out of City of Heroes, and it was pretty cool there.
– The Dresden books are _good_, not great. I’d recommend Harry Connolly’s books over the Dresden series if you want to scratch an Urban Fantasy itch. Richard Kadrey’s Sandman Slim books are pretty good too.
LindaS
6200 feet elevation in South Lake Tahoe. In the last ten days we’ve had 6 feet of snow. FSM knows when we’ll see our grass, or get the boat dug out.
Violet
@Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther:
Don’t forget to take your new shoes off when you go through security.
I’m heading out to put in a new bed. Nothing like spring for gardening.
RobertB
I get the impression that Harry Dresden is the author in wizard drag. But I’d agree with you that they’re good, lightweight reading.
Cris
Read Chris Clarke’s beautiful farewells to his beloved canine partner Zeke.
Jules
The Dresden books are crack…..CRACK I tell you…
The last was really something special and I had a bit of a hissy fit when I found out that the next one will not be out till June instead of the normal April release.
TomG
I tried the Rift Online beta for a bit, and my wife signed up and will be playing, but I’m no longer willing to spend that kind of money on MMORPGs. I dabble in LotRO and only spend money there when I want, and there are a few other games I have accounts on – Anarchy Online, Perfect World, and Runes of Magic – but nothing that costs much any more.
The strange thing was, my wife got tired of World of Warcraft about 3 months after I quit for good. Cataclysm wasn’t quite the fresh new deal that we expected…
Walker
Yes. Have you played the demo yet? We need more downloads by Tuesday if BioWare is going to give us free DLC.
It is fascinating hanging out on the BioWare forums. They have sped up the combat and removed auto-attack by default on the consoles; you now have to press a button to attack (though it is still auto-attack on PC and there is a toggle on consoles). This is all they have done to make the game more exciting, and we have people on the forums calling the game a Diablo-clone. The powers are more tactical than in DA:O and somehow these people think it is about button mashing.
That and the forums are filled with people half my age complaining about the death of “old school RPGs”.
Drew Ryan
I have enjoyed the Dresdan books, mostly listening to the audio versions. Though I liked Marsters in Buffy, I now think of him as Harry Dresdan. He does a great job.
SGEW
@gbear: That’s just so awful. I wish I had some advice to give. So sorry.
Sad, now.
Walker
@cyntax:
This is false. As has been pointed out in several threads on the BioWare forums, the range of dialog options in DAII is exactly the same that it is in DA:O. Three responses and up to three investigations per level. The only difference is that the wheel paraphrases the response rather than explicitly spelling it out. But all that matters in BioWare dialogue is tone, not content.
Martin
My friends at Blizzard are most worried about Diablo 3 coming out. They’re pretty sure it’s going to destroy Battlenet in much the same way that WoW did at launch.
Chuck Butcher
@JGabriel:
This week I hit Lvl 50 on Red Dead Hardcore Roam. I’m going to enjoy that awhile before “Legend” advance – if I do. Even with a good circle of “Friends” to play with I’m starting to get a touch bored.
Damned Oblivion, I had a Lvl 30something with 360 hours and hadn’t gotten every ‘dungeon’ done and tossed it when HD overloaded. Then bought the big HD – current character is lvl 24 and still avoiding “Great Welkynd Stone” mission and looking for “Statues”. Just got into armor/weapons nearly as good as Knights 9 so can play Assassins’ and Theives’ Guilds I’ve never run. running original 360 box.
Poopyman
You lucky Pennsylvanians. Good news for the motherfrakkers.
Dave
Hell yes! The demo for the 360 was pretty great. I played through DA:O three times. Bioware is pure gold…even Jade Empire, their least-awesome game, was better than 99% of the crap out there.
And for you strategy fans, Total War: Shogun 2 comes out a week later. And the demo for THAT is pretty fantastic.
Southern Beale
OMG. This is geek central. I had no idea.
Crza
Not quite as geeked up about DA2 as some others, but I am cautiously optimistic. I rather liked the original, but it was a horrible grindfest in some parts and that really diminished it overall.
Hopefully Bioware continues the pacing philosophy they adopted in Mass Effect 2 – keep it moving, keep it moving, keep it moving. I didn’t like ME1 all that much either, but adored ME2. It’d be great to see DA2 pull the same trick.
Maude
@gbear:
For you, it is awful. For kitty, it is natural.
There’s nothing for you to do.
I am so sorry.
Ash Can
@gbear: Oh dear. My sympathies at this difficult time.
On the topic of open-threadness, here’s an interesting little story I came across: Back in the days of segregation, black travelers found the Green Book indispensable.
gbear
@Maude: that’s what I’m realizing. Thanks.
Marc McKenzie
@khead: Khead, run, do not walk, to get DA 1. Excellent game, but then again, it’s from Bioware, so no surprise. Actually, you can buy a special edition for the first game that includes the original game as well as an expansion pack. It really is a great game, and yeah, I am waiting for DA2.
J. A. Baker
@Mark S.: Yeah, I know what you mean. I played Spore for…about a day or so. I got bored, so I stopped. I haven’t touched it since. While I did say that Darkspore looks interesting, I doubt I’ll buy it.
Lately, I’ve been playing Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. Exploded pants FTW!
Crza
Speaking of videogame geekery… not only Skyrim looks like it could be fantastic, but Deus Ex freakin’ 3 is due later this year and it’s given me the geek-hardon of the gods. Oh man. I had slightly mixed feelings about DX1 and very very mixed feelings about DX2 – so far I have nothing but love for what I’ve seen of DX3.
Nicole
@PurpleGirl: I envy you your terrace! I have not even a fire escape. :(
Johannes
@gbear: That’s a terrible experience. No good advice, just empathy–we went through it a few years back, and it was wrenching as hell. Love her, miss her, and be glad she’s shared a good life with you is all I’ve got.
Marc McKenzie
@Dave: Dave, your lucky on getting to play the demo for DA 2. And I agree completely about Bioware (although I still like JADE EMPIRE)–MASS EFFECT and ME 2 have to be two of the best games I’ve ever played.
I will give DA 2 a try, but first I have to finish BULLETSTORM (hilarious fun, great FPS!) and ASSASSIN’S CREED: BROTHERHOOD.
JMY
Someone please tell me again why Cenk Uygur has a show? Dude is horrible. He’s complaining that the WH isn’t doing enough to show it’s support for Wisc.
Maude
@gbear:
I went through it with a 15 1/2 year old boy cat. It was so painful and the meow, yup.
He died in bed next me during the night.
I wish I could say something that would be comforting, but I can’t.
I will be thinking of you.
joel hanes
Portal2 will be fun, but I’m jonesing for more Half-Life content.
I really need Half-Life 2 Episode 3.
Wearing the HEV suit and carrying the crowbar does for me what new shoes seem to have done for Ms. Hauser.
disclosure: I have a “WWGFD?” bumper sticker, and a Black Mesa parking permit.
jenn
@gbear:
Oh, I’m so sorry. Hugs and good wishes to you and your kitty. I agree your vet may have some good advice. My only thought: tell her what you’re feeling. Sounds a bit goofy perhaps, but our pets are so darn intuitive that while they may not understand the words we’re saying, they seem awfully good at picking up the underlying emotions. But regardless of whether it helps her or not, I don’t think it would hurt — and it might help you.
suzanne
I had a job interview yesterday. It went really well. So well, in fact, that I have a second interview with the principal of the office on Monday.
Please send me good thoughts. I have $10 in my bank account.
jenn
@Poopyman:
Good Lord. Thanks (?) for sharing.
Jules
@JMY:
I have no idea.
I just pitched a slipper at the TV….
jenn
@suzanne:
Good thoughts heading your way!
Chuck Butcher
@suzanne:
Positive vibes….
jnfr
We love the Dresden books. Have them all and have read them more than once. The TV series wasn’t too bad either, but it didn’t last long.
We’re going to the pro-Union rally in Denver tomorrow. They’re being organized all over the country, so if you have some time, drop by moveon.org and see where the nearest one is for you.
Arclite
@Aaron: Lots of AAA RPGs coming out this year: Dragon Age II, Witcher II, Fable III, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The great thing about sequels, is that they are almost always as good/better than their predecessors, as the dev teams stay together and learn from their mistakes. It will be a good year for RPGs.
Dave
@Marc McKenzie: Bulletstorm looks insane as hell. I just finished AC:B and it was quite excellent – one of the best sandbox RPGs I have ever played.
Yeah, the DA:2 demo is pretty great. The one thing (on the 360) I am having trouble with is locking the target. I have to use the right thumbstick to keep rotating the camera.
Wow…that may be the geekiest sentence I have ever written.
arguingwithsignposts
@Angry Black Lady:
John Cole’s Bunker.
gbear
Thanks to all.
Delia
@gbear:
Don’t let her outside. Cats have an instinct to go hide in the bushes when they’re dying, and that can mean a not-nice way for them to go. Several years ago I had a middle-aged cat who suddenly developed a fatal liver ailment. That was the advice the vet gave me. She did get out once but still responded with a meow when I called her and I found the bush where she was hiding. She only lasted another week. I had to take her in as she did seem to be in pain. The vet said her illness caused nausea.
tripletee
The Dresden books aren’t great literature, but they’re a lot of fun, and the series improves a lot the deeper you get into it. His Fury series is where Butcher really gets to scratch his sword-n-sorcery itch, and they’re a total blast. I actually like them better than the Dresden books, despite rampant Mary-Sueism of the main character.
Haven’t played Dragon Age but I’d like to when I get the time. KOTOR was one of my favorite games of the last generation and Mass Effect is one of my favorite series of all time, so BioWare can pretty much do no wrong in my eyes.
Right now I’m working through Dead Space 2, which is 10 pounds of awesome in a one-pound bag. And that bag is buried under a pile of dismembered necromorph limbs.
RSA
I liked the first few Dresden books, and I kept reading the series far longer than I should have. They’re good lightweight entertainment, but there’s a sameness to them after a while.
Oddly, enough, I’ve come to enjoy the Paul Blackthorne TV series more than the books. He’s a more likable character than the book version.
Sloegin
Dresden Files; The TV production was meh, the books are geek crack filled awesome bombs.
Quite rewarding provided you can make it past book 3 or so. It takes several books to realize the author is learning his craft while on the job. Nice thing is; after book 13 he’s still getting better.
Does a great job with character development; lapses into way too many template insertions to fill space… still a great read.
Kristine
@Swellsman: Jim Butcher has also written a pure fantasy series. Codex Alera (sp?) is the first volume.
Kristine
@suzanne: ::good thoughts::
@gbear: no advice, except to concur with folks recommending you talk to your vet. Much sympathy, though. It’s so hard to see them go.
srv
It’s a blazing sun in a deep blue sky out here in SF. If they hadn’t painted the damn windows shut, I could work on my tan.
Alas, they’re saying we might have flurries AM. Much excitement and anticipation for tomorrow’s protest.
scandi
Love, love, love the Dresden series. I’m not generally a fan of sci-fi, but I was cat-sitting for a friend and I had nothing else to read. I got totally hooked. My friend is no longer with us, so I read as much as I can in honor of his memory.
Tehanu
I don’t think the Dresden books are getting better; I ran out of steam after about Vol. 7 or so. Up to then they were enjoyable light entertainment but I agree with whoever said they were getting to be all the same.
On the other hand, grab ANYTHING by Charles Stross and start reading it now — especially the Laundry series, in which he pays homage to all his favorite spy novelists (Len Deighton, Anthony Price, etc.) and H.P. Lovecraft.
Mark S.
I loved Mass Effect 1 and HATED Mass Effect 2. I thought they took a great RPG and turned it into another shooter, just like 99.8% of the fucking games out there. Seriously, not every game has to be like Halo or Call of Duty. Fuck you EA.
Also, I loved the idiotic explanation for why the guns don’t have unlimited ammo anymore: you now have heat clips that when you run out of the gun is worthless. How in the hell is that supposed to be an advancement in technology.
cyntax
@Walker:
Not false, you can only play a human now.
piratedan
to everyone, ty for urging folks to get off of IE, finally downloaded firefox and so far, this site is a damn sight more friendly to read.
The spouse loves the Butcher books and has dog eared them already, my tastes lean to Glen Cook’s Garrett PI series for my otherworldly detective fiction and I can also recommend George C. Chesbro’s Mongo series for detective fare that isn’t exactly mainstream.
As for my neato find of the day, its this, for Firefly fans to geek about
http://helpnathanbuyfirefly.com/
Litlebritdifrnt
@gbear:
Got tears in my eyes the minute I read your post. If she is going then just let her go. Scritch her head occasionally as you are doing so she knows you are there. Tell her you love her, over and over again, so you don’t regret NOT telling her. She will go to sleep soon and just not wake up. She’ll be waiting for you the other side of the bridge. Know that for certain.
jnfr
@gbear:
All hugs and best wishes, gbear. I let go of two of my cats at home and it’s very hard waiting out those last hours, even if they aren’t in immediate pain. Both of mine waited until I was out of their way to finally let go, so once you’ve petted her again, don’t hesitate to give at least occasional moments when you’re out of the room. Sometimes I think it’s as hard on them watching us as it is the other way around.
AkaDad
I would play Rift, but I only play games that are fun. :D
Nutella
Heh. War criminal refuses to attend conference that invited someone who has “willfully and repeatedly done great harm to the interests of the United States.” That W. What a card.
BethanyAnne
@Mr. Poppinfresh: Sounds really nifty, wish it ran on a Mac. I should grab a copy of Win 7 and fire up Boot Camp one of these days.
BethanyAnne
@gbear: Oy, that sucks. Mine are 15 and 14, and beginning to have old cat sicknesses. Much hugs.
gbear
She just passed on. She went very peacefully. I was with her and my other cat was there too.
Chuck Butcher
@Mark S.:
I like each (ME I/II) for different reasons. Ammo making things a bit more difficult was fine and losing the constant “box hunt” didn’t hurt my feelings nor all the “editing” required in the “inventory” that went with it.
R-Jud
@gbear: Sorry, gbear. I’m glad it was peaceful, at least.
Chuck Butcher
@Chuck Butcher:
In fact I think I’ll just go kill some “byte” characters since no Asshole Tags get issued in real life.
(heh, RD lvl 50 character is less well armed than me personally)
Chuck Butcher
@gbear: hugs
JLM
As an admitted SciFi/Fantasy dork I can highly recommend Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files. The alternate world that Harry inhabits is vivid, complex and sometimes scary. Harry also starts out the series living with a larger than normal cat as his only real companion. Butcher as an author grows throughout the series and the books keep getting better.
For pure fantasy Butcher’s Codex Alera series is fun as hell.
andrea
My 70something year old mother turned me on to the Dresden books, courtesy of the contractor who oversaw the remodeling of her new place. Crack, I tell you. I made the mistake of checking out the short story compilation while only part way through the series.
jenn
@gbear:
I’m glad she died peacefully, but so sorry for your loss. Hug to you, scritches to your other cat.
august
I’m excited for DA2. I loved the first one. There was some monotonous parts, but I think that has been removed from the sequel. Since the story takes place over 10 years, the gameplay can skip from one major event to the next and keep the momentum going.
TooManyJens
The Dresden Files TV series is a source of great bitterness for me as a former viewer of the Sci-Fi Channel. They kept complaining that not enough women watched the channel, and blamed a lot of their stupid programming decisions (like bringing on ghost hunters and shit like that) on trying to attract us. Then women watched the hell out of the Dresden Files — and they canceled it.
suzanne
@gbear: Hugs and peace to you. And scritches for your other kitty.
Daulnay
Dresden Files: Sam Spade noir crossed with urban fantasy. It’s fun, cotton candy, but I prefer both the original 30’s noir novels and Charles deLint’s urban fantasy.
DA 2? H### yes, we’re waiting for that with bated breath. The changes sound good, except that you’re limited to playing one (male) character. That’s lost one player from our household already. Would it have been so hard to voice 2 options/stories? Being able to play both ‘sides’ was a big part of the charm of DA 1. I hope DA2 manages to be as good.
Rifts: Not interested, I’m waiting for Guild Wars 2!! They’ve spotted the weaknesses in current MMOS, and have put together innovative solutions for them. No more sacred trinity, no grind, no more Disneyland-ride world.
Violet
@gbear:
So sorry. At least it was peaceful and you were with her. Sending tons of hugs.
tripletee
@Tehanu:
Status quo syndrome is a danger in any long-running series. I remember feeling the same way about Discworld around the time of “Pyramids” or thereabouts – good authors find a way to get past it, and I think Butcher is up to the task. The last book, with the incredibly on-the-nose title “Changes,” definitely shakes things up – have you read it?
gbear, sorry about your cat. Never easy to let them go, but at least she had a peaceful exit.
Jamus4
Sadly, I have opinions about all of these. And I’m a former Deadhead, have two cats, and worry about weight and cholesterol. Please kill me now.
Haven’t tried Rift, but my teenager is psyched. I am canceling my WOW account again – there was a point were the 80-85 folks were democratized, but now the fanatics are ruining the pickup dungeons and PvPs.
Liked, but didn’t love, Dragon Age. The busywork quests and mediocre maps got on my nerves. We’ll probably but it anyway.
Read one or two Dresden books, and thought they were good, not great. Honestly, when I saw the post, I mixed it up with Simon Green’s Nightside stuff, both good for planes and beaches, but that’s about it.
So, if you are in this ridiculous little demographic, I recommend Max Headroom (cheap box set on Amazon) and Freaks and Geeks DVDs, Bioshock I and II, and Peter Hamilton’s Reality Dysfunction trilogy. Oh, and graphic novels, especially Transmetropolitan, Sandman, Lucifer, and Preacher.
Don’t get me started on music. That is all.
asiangrrlMN
@gbear: I’m so sorry for you, gbear, and for your other kitteh. My deepest condolences on your loss. She was deeply loved.
@Linkmeister: Loved the first six or seven books in the series. Now, mostly read out of obligation. I find it to be true of many series. The first seven or so books are great, then it’s slowly downhill from there.
Darkrose
@cyntax:
The voiced protagonist is the one of the big reasons I’m not sure I’m going to like DA2 as much as Origins. I didn’t mind the silent thing, because it let me imagine what my character sounded like. It also meant that what I clicked on was what I said; several times in the demo I found myself thinking, “But wait–I didn’t mean that!” because the spoken dialogue was very different from the intent of the paraphrased option I chose.
And yeah, I admit it: I’m still bitter about the fully-voiced character being one of the reasons I’m stuck playing a stupid shem.
Darkrose
@gbear: I’m very sorry for your loss–I know she’ll be missed.
Darkrose
@Walker:
I didn’t find this to be true, at least in the demo. On several occasions, the option I picked (“He’s not alone”) was 180 degrees different in intent from the actual response (“Well, at least Father will have company”).
gene108
Just got a PS3 and started playing Dragon Age Origins…aargh…trying to finish so I can keep up with the Joneses, when Dragon Age II comes out…(and yes, I know I need to play through Awakening…)
The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher, is a very good page turner / urban fantasy series. If you haven’t read it, it’s worth reading. The characters are well developed and unlike female authors, who get into urban fantasy (Laurel K. Hamilton, for example), the series doesn’t veer into love triangles and other mushy stuff, which gets annoying after awhile.
gogol's wife
@gbear:
I’m so sorry. I’m glad it was peaceful.
Darkrose
It’s possible that I have opinions on the subject of the DA II demo. Overall, I found the combat to be a potential migraine trigger, I hated the dialogue wheel, and I’m still going to play it on release. I’m hoping that they’ll release the toolset so that the modders can play.
Darkrose
Oh, FYWP. Sorry about the screwed-up link there; I can’t get the edit panel to show in Chrome.
Comrade Kevin
@Linkmeister:
Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective?
Quackosaur
@Daulnay: Not that it really affects your “there’s only one story” comment, but you can play as female Hawke in DA2.
@Darkrose: Was that one of the middle, purple options? I think those were generally intended as snark.
Comrade Kevin
@Cris:
Yes, I would like to second this.
khead
@Marc McKenzie:
Being the cheap bastard that I am, I will be sure to pick it up on my next trip to the bargain bin.
I sorta hate being the last guy to the party but I gave up on being an early adapter sometime around the NES/Genesis craze.
Another Commenter at Balloon Juice (fka Bella Q)
@gbear: I’m sorry for your loss. That ending is as good as it gets, though i know that it is no comfort.
Darkrose
@Quackosaur: It was the one with a diamond icon. If that was supposed to be snark, it’d be nice if they tell you that, because I had no fucking clue. I thought sarcasm was the Greek comedy mask.
Quackosaur
@Darkrose: Hmm, purple’s the comedy mask most of the time (I didn’t pay close attention, so I can’t state it with absolute certainty), so I don’t know, I may just misremembering. I’d have to play through the demo again to see the specific instance you mentioned.
tripletee
@gene108:
T,FTFY
The utter trainwreck that the Anita Blake series turned into is one of the great WTF moments in my personal pop-reading life. I really liked that series when it started.
machine
Tilling the garden this weekend, as a matter of fact. Turning over that weed-rich southeast Texas soil in preparation for herbs that augment my recent sausage fabrication efforts. It’s a pity that I can’t grow Boston butt and venison along with the marjoram and cumin.
ruemara
have to quintuple (?) rec the Dresden Files, which are literary crack, but still quite good. But for sheer, amazing, DAMN THIS IS GOOD WRITTEN CRACK!, read the Codex Alera. There’s nothing like these books.
WoW is still ok, but the over hard heroics and raids is killing the fun. Douches are everywhere in the H runs. Big turn off.
Had sunshine, started garden. Now dealing with hail. oh well.
and Hugs gbear. so sorry for your loss.
Ab_Normal
DA2: My first male!Hawke is so getting named Stringfellow…
Tehanu
@tripletee:
No, as I said, I haven’t read any for a while and I’m OCD enough that I’d want to catch up with the ongoing story before I read anything new. But I’ll keep an eye out at the library for “Changes” if you really think it’s good.
gene108
@tripletee:
I did too, but I guess trying to keep up a series going for close to 20 years isn’t easy to do. I picked the series from my library a few years ago and looked at when the first book as printed and I think it was in 1993.
I’ve tried reading some other urban fantasy stuff by other female authors, like Lillith Saintcrow’s Dante Valentine series, but it just spends way too much time on relationship problems of the hero and a particular person.
Ditch Digger
Rift is polished, they didn’t promise the world and then have to scratch a bunch of unfinished stuff on release. What they said would be in is in, and it works.
Dustin
I would be excited, but the damn demo keeps freezing my 360 up solid every time I do a tactical pause in the middle of a fight. I’m going to try a deletion and redownload to see if that fixes the problem :(
I enjoyed the first one but couldn’t get past the fact that the main character was the only one without a voice. I play enough of that crap with Valve’s games, after Mass Effect 1 & 2 I expected better of Bioware. So needless to say the into bits of the demo I’ve actually managed to play are encouraging; I just don’t want to waste my money on a game that’s going to freeze my system up every time I play.
WarMunchkin
I haven’t played through a lot of the DLC and awakening for origins, so I don’t know about DA2. I like that the main character will be voiced a-la Shepard from ME. As far as RIFT goes, I’ve heard that it’s been having some problems, but I’ve also been hearing some good things to. I’m more excited about SW:TOR. If you like star wars and mmorpgs at all, you should check out the website — they have some great trailers and storyline stuff.
tripletee
@Tehanu:
Yeah, give it a try. I thought the series was starting to tread water too a while back, but the last few have all pushed the story forward in various ways and it really feels like it’s building toward something now.
BruceK
I’ve heard that the best place to start with the Dresden Files is with books 4 or 5 – “Summer Knight” or “Death Masks”, respectively – and then once you’re hooked, go back and read the first two or three books, where Butcher was still learning his craft. Then go forward through Book 6, “Blood Rites”, for necessary background, to Book 7, “Dead Beat”, in which Harry Dresden … ah …
…does something that needs to be seen to be believed.
Yeah, it’s not high literature, but dammit, it’s fun. If the series is crack, then “Dead Beat” is a hit of the really good stuff.
As for DAII: still working through Origins, slowly, and the demo for DAII kinda left me feeling meh. Looking forward quite a bit to Mass Effect 3, though.
kdaug
@Jamus4:
This is clearly mispronounced – it should be “M-M-M-Max Head-head-headroom” Bzzzt.
Blue Jean
Yes, the first six or seven Anita Blake were great, but then it went downhill into porn. Hamilton says that the porn books sell better than the straight mystery, though.
@toomanyjens;
I hear you about the Sci Fi channel. Speaking of things that have gone downhill, I miss the days when they did movie marathons with quirky hosts, and classic scifi/horror shows like “Thriller”. I’ve always thought “Ghost Hunters” was throughly boring, so I stopped watching SFC when it became All Ghost Hunters, All The Time. If they really want to bring in women viewers, they’d bring back “The Dresden Files” (even though the TV series totally mixes up the women characters) and revive the “Blood Ties” show. Yes, it does have a romantic triangle, (two, in fact), but then The Dresden Files has its own share of romantic geometry, so the “mushy stuff” is hardly unique to “female authors”.
Yeah, if you don’t have time to read “The Dresden Files”, then you can always listen to it on MP3. James Marsters does a great job acting out all the voices (though I always imagine Murphy as Sarah Michelle Gellar.)
Daulnay
@Quackosaur: True, found out you could play female when I tried the demo last night. I will still miss the different PoV that you got from different origins. I’d also forgotten that DA was battle pr0n, a point the demo made emphatically (I’d played DA1 with gore, off). I also missed the old dialog system – part of the fun was figuring out which of the comment choices would give the response I wanted. The new system feels like training wheels.
Raven Basslady
I ADORE all of the Dresden Files books, and I also love his Codex Alera series, which is straight High Fantasy. Butcher’s books tend to read like fast-paced, intelligently written, tightly plotted, Summer Blockbuster movies. Lots of fun. I’m planning on getting the tabletop RPG for Dresden Files. (Because it has some previously unpublished story-age.)
You might also want to check out the graphic novels. Yum. Brain food…..
Just for the record, I’d written off the Fantasy genre until I read Butcher’s books. I hadn’t wanted to read any for like, th3e last twenty years… He’s brought something very fresh and compelling to the genre.
And I avoid the TV show like the plaque. Not even remotely like the books–
Here’s a couple of recs:
China Miéville; (anything by him, “Perdido Street Station” and “The Scar” are faves of mine)
For mindless fun, Kim Harrison’s ” The Hollows” series– more fun than I would have imagined– particularly with titles like, ” Dead Witch Walking”, A Fistful of Charms”,” The Good, The Bad and The Undead”, etc, … Implausible plots made plausible with a good sense of humor and deft storytelling.
Singular
China Mieville’s stuff is breathtaking – Perdido St Station was great but The Scar… well just read it, you won’t regret it. I loved Iron Council too.
Regarding games… don’t get me wrong, I loved DA:O but really miss the kind of freedom you used to get with the likes of Baldur’s Gate. Storylines are far too linear these days.
midge
Have you read The Magicians, by Lev Grossman? If not, I highly recommend it. Very fun.