System Wars Lounge V.66: Happy Manly New Year Edition

@khoofia_pika: I've had friends recommend Sanderson's work. I enjoy fantasy, hell I play D&D all the time, but sometimes some of those books are just so dry and by the numbers. I'm dealing with that with The Death Gate Cycle now. I like the universe Weis and Hickman have created, and central characters are great, but there's a whole bunch of fantasy tripe in the middle that's getting on my nerves. I'd still recommend the first three books though. :P Enjoying the fourth so far.

I'll be jumping around from genres though. My wife had me read The Road last year and I fell in love with that book so that's why I'll be jumping into No Country for Old Men next. Then I'll try some postmodernism with DeLillo's White Noise and a few other series.

I've purchased a lot of books over the years that I just don't read because I'm too busy doing other shit like gaming. Time to put a stop to that! :P

@Zassimick: I've heard good things about Death Gate, but I've been told the series sort of loses its charm after the first couple of books. It's been on my "maybe" list for some time now.

Oh, and I totally get what you mean by that, getting tired of overused fantasy tropes. I used to love The Wheel of Time, but that series just got on my nerves because of how by the numbers fantasy it was. That's actually one of the reasons I like Sanderson's books so much, because they feel fresh and different. You should definitely read his Mistborn books, they're amazing. Great characters, great world building, and each book feels so different and self contained, at leas thematically. The first book, for example, is really just an "uprising against dark lord" story when you really get down to it, but the way its told and the content it entails makes it stand out. It's been written as a heist novel. That's probably the perfect example of how Sanderson subverts tropes and, oh, let's call them "staples", just to be polite. :P

And man, I read The Road a little time back, what an amazing book. So bleak and desolate, but man, such a powerful book.

@soulitane

If you dont mind wrestling with the clunky controls/camera of the tactical view, bump up the difficulty in DA:I a notch (dont put it on the highest unless you enjoy fighting sponges) and the combat becomes quite enjoyable despite the tradeoff. It encourages playing the game as a complete unit with that view with the amped up flow of combat and increased letality that's presented to you.

I wouldnt recommend restarting. That character can be valuable as a basic tank and you can spec him/her how you want to fit your party. Obviously dialogue will be dictated by that central character, but you can play, explore and develop whatever party member you come across, swap around on the fly or play them as a unit to make co-ordinated plays. The nice thing about DA:I's combat is that there's a nice physical element to it, where you can pull with a Warrior, knockdown with your mage, weaken them, snare things with an Alchemist as you blow them up in a co-ordinated fashion with everyone. I liked the Rift Mage the most, followed by the Reaver. The Assassin is arguably the most fun and active class in the game to play, but I found them tricky to implement in a cohesive party and they only seemed useful to rush an enemy caster or archer positioned deep in backline, which you can range or pull anyway.

But you cant save how the game is lacking in enemy variety - you basically fight the same humanoid compositions and wildlife that you encounter in White Orchid the Hinterlands, just with different skins and stats once you move up from area to area. And I wouldnt be surprised if you dropped the game by then into your backlog if it doesnt get a grips on you. It's the biggest problem with the game that isnt the garbage Wartable system that gates things.

I took your advice and the game is certainly more enjoyable to play. It's not fantastic but I might actually give it a fair go now.

I'm assuming it will get a bit better later on when I start to get more characters to mess around with. The number of options at this point in the game is rather limiting.

@soulitane: are you playing on pc? If so, I think there is a mod on nexus to instantly finish war table shit

i lost one of my thumbsticks to my xbox elite controller. god dammit lol

Bought The Road novel last month and still haven't read it lol. I'm always more focused on manga reading than a real book.

It's been a while since I really grabbed a book and read, I'm also one of those people who if you give me a book and its Interesting enough, I'll read the entire thing . I did read lots of old literature due to taking a course in literature last semester and I freaking loved reading the stories. I figured I really do like reading but life just keeps getting in the way man.

Zass had a good point when he said a book every month. I might try to incorporate that into my 2016 plans. I hope I do.

This is gonna sound stupid but if GTA 4 had a book with more fleshed out characters and more plot, background exposition ect, I would totally buy it. I just love that games story so much. I love crime and detective plots in general.

The god father is one of my favourite stories and I love Martin Scorsese works like casino and goodfellas.

The central storyline in Death Gate is wonderful and I'm wanting to see it through. Your comment about losing the series losing its charm, I definitely understand. Each book details the main characters venturing to one of four worlds, so each book has a strong secondary character who is within the society of that world. It's great, but by the fourth book I'm pretty tired of learning how the norms of dwarves, elves and humans differ from the previous world. Once I finish this book, I'm curious how the dynamic of this seven-part series will change.

Mistborn! That was the series that a good friend of mine has been telling me to read.

And The Road, so good. It became one of my favorites. I'm looking forward to reading Cormac McCarthy's work again.

Read The Road. It's too good.

I don't read enough. My wife reads enough for the both of us (told me she's already read 11 books this year. WTF?) But when I do read, I feel better about myself. I think it's a realistic goal, and if I read more then that's wonderful. I need to have reading in my regular life routine.

F**king Canadian dollar is ruining my video game purchasing habits, games are soon to cost $100

Aren't the prices holding steady at $70?

Well you do think A link to the past is the best Zelda game, so........ :P

Unfortunately I'm playing the XO version.

$80 CAD vs. $60 USD before taxes at the moment. Will be $90 for new releases if the CAD tanks any more. Plz help before we end up paying as much as Australia.

The best/worst part is, $80 CAD is still not worth $60 USD...

@Zassimick: good for her man. I'd love for my future significant other to be just like her. I have high respect for people who like to read. They are also much more patient and understanding but also opinionated haha at least the ones I know hehe.

I really did feel better about myself reading as well. It helps you express yourself better too.

@charizard1605

This board is full of terrible people, with terrible taste.

How so? :P

Best part. Silver lining for a tanking currency.

It's about purchasing power stability. One moment you can buy x amount of stuff, then shit happens and you find yourself suddenly being able to buy 3/4x because the cash you're earning or saved up isn't inversely scaling with your currency's purchasing power. Were we to do direct conversions, it'd be very close to 2/3x.

On a semi-related note, I wonder if you read this article about gaming in Iran -- how it turned out the way it did as a result of economic sanctions from 1979 onwards. Part of it gave me a little perspective on markets and the reasons behind reigon-locking.

And this is why I love Murica, the cheapest imports in this country despite I'm a Otaku.

I know it's not as good as the Vita version, but Tearaway Unfolded is beautiful and so creative.

Ah, ridiculously floppy slices of Brooklyn style pizza.

This is living.

Today, I lost several matches of Nidhogg on purpose to get laid.

Life gets funny once you turn 29.

SMB3 used to be my digital panty dropper.

Oddly enough, Mario Kart DD was also a good one.

Go on...

R.I.P. Glenn Frey, Eagles guitarist and vocalist, Actor. 1948-2016

lol I don't know what it is man, but just about every chick I messed with loved some damn SMB3. I guess it makes sense, if you're a person who likes fun things, you'll probably like SMB3. That game just puts people in a good mood.

Mario Kart surprised me though. That was always a game I played with the bros, never knew it could have so much appeal with the women. When I was about 20, maybe 21, my apartment was the party spot. Mostly just people sitting around, getting wasted, having a good time, etc. and it was extra cool because the bar was a block away and I was the local green man.

But the Gamecube quickly became the party box and people were lining up for some Double Dash. For my roommate and I, it became the equivalent of the age old take a chick to a scary movie type deal. Girls either going to be punching you in the arm after a blue shell, or hugging you after a victory, but either way you're breaking the ice with laughs and a good time.

Note: Play online matches of Halo for the opposite effect. Just watch how quickly the girl will get bored and leave. Great way to drive one away if you're tiring of their shit.

Conclusion? Nintendo >>>>>>>>>>>>>> MS.

ITT: mario gets you laid. This is awesome

Must be the mustache.

I know what you mean with Halo, but for me, it was Rocket League. The woman simply couldn't hit the broad side of a barn in that game.

Conclusion #2: Nidhogg > Rocket League

@ConanTheStoner: LMAO.

I think GTA could work too. Hmmm

A fallout game could probably put someone to sleep lol

@Technoweirdo:

I heard the CAD will probably be as low as 59cents sometime this year so I think most xbox one and ps4 games by then will cost $90 to buy.I have yet to buy a single game over $70 yet this gen. I haven't bought a game at full price in over a year.

This should be awful but I can't stop listening

@illmatic87 said:

Techno's deepest, greatest fears captured in a single picture. Okay, I'd still pay, but damn.

-

If it makes you feel any better, at current exchange rates, I'm paying $150 for my copy of Fates when it ships because I have to import from the US. Via GameStop. Who's charging me shipping because they clearly hate Canada. Yeah, it's great, I know. I'm sure you feel better now, knowing I'm feeling what it's like to be you.

In actual things to feel a bit better about, that's clearly a placeholder price (They even mark it so!) and will likely be $120 AUD. Incidentally, that's still less than what I'm paying for Fates! Isn't that great!? ISN'T THAT GREAT!?

Probably, yeah. I'll just keep praying otherwise in the meantime.

No, no, too complex for the frail minds of women.

TOTALLY JOKING BROS, DON'T EVEN START.

I can relate bro. It just works for some reason and it really shouldn't.

@ConanTheStoner: here we go with misogynist view of woman again on this fourm.

Not surprising from Conantheboner.

Just kidding lol.:P

Wow dude that 200$ FE Fates image. Ridiculous price man. From 80$ USD to this... Lol

I pray for you Canadians. Why is it so expensive there?

Also guys for those that missed on A boy and his Blob on the Wii. It's getting an HD release in 20th of January.

Game. Set. Match.

Chaz, even with the shitty reviewers should be objectives thread, Chrono Trigger in a thread with Witcher 3, still shittiest opinion of the year. holding strong bruh.

Haven't even gone into the reviews thread. I'm too old for this nonsense.

I've always said RPG threads are terrible on this forum. Now here we are.

What the hell did they do to that Run the Jewels Song. How dare someone put Nintendo menu nonsense behind GOATs like Run the Jewels.

I've decided that I love MGS 5.

@ConanTheStoner said:

I always knew Ron Jeremy looks like Mario, but nobody beats Bob Hoskins as Mario. RIP Bob Hoskins.

I've also decided I'm going to buy all three versions of Fire Emblem: Fates together.

I'm what's wrong with this industry.

I have the weirdest boner right now.

Nothing wrong with that. It's you're money after all.

you old shriveled man

In other news, Metal Gear Online is available on PC... don't know if it's worth it though.

That is true.

I'm too hard on myself.

Okay, so now Deus Ex and Kindgom Hearts aren't RPGs either.

Mass Effect, The Witcher, Dark Souls, Pokemon... the list keeps on growing.

Says who? Let them believe what they want.